Imagine X-Men done with a different vibe and aimed at younger audiences and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what Push really is. Although this sounds pretty harsh, the movie is actually quite entertaining. Especially if you like this type of stuff, you know, people with special abilities, secret government agencies, and mutating vaccines. They even opted out to give us a lot of background information on most of the characters and events. They were trying to build this complex world but that complex world feels awfully flimsy. However, this is not the reason why you should watch Push. You watch it to enjoy great special effects, smooth storytelling, and exotic locations.
The story is mostly set in Hong Kong, making the atmosphere much more exciting and vibrant. Hong Kong is a pretty chaotic place, so most of the filming was done guerrilla-style, with hidden cameras and actors doing their scenes in one takes. Chris Evans, who was already in 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Djimon Hounsou, Cliff Curtis, and Dakota Fanning were all great. I mean, as much as you can be great with this material. I really didn’t like how Dakota was dressed, I mean for fucks sake the girl was fifteen at the moment of filming, and for most of the movie, she’s dressed pretty scarcely. If you wanted something sexy, why not go for Camilla Belle or Xiaolu Li.
After the end of World War II, the United States decided to form The Division, a special agency for people with special abilities like telekinesis, remote viewing, and others. After years and years of research, they created a special vaccine that can enhance any power that a person possesses. The only problem is that all of the test subjects died. All but one. Her name is Kira and she not only survived the vaccine but stole one and escaped to Hong Kong. However, The Division is not willing to let that slide…
The thing that’s sorely missing from this movie is emotion. You never really feel for the characters and everything seems more like a tech demo than a fully-fledged movie. While this makes the movie a bit boring and very easygoing for us, adults, I have no idea how younger audiences may feel about this. And this being a PG-13 movie, you can bet that they were aiming for that 13-18 sweet spot. This means you should limit your expectations, especially if you’re expecting something on the Marvel level. In the end, here’s a fun game: Push features nine types of known psychics, detailing their powers but never delving deeper into how the whole thing works; try to fill in the blanks using elements featured in the movie…
Director: Paul McGuigan
Writers: David Bourla
Cast: Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Djimon Hounsou, Camilla Belle
Fun Stuff: Shipped to theaters under the code name “Kinetic”.
Rating:
IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465580/
