Push (2009)

In Push, the 2009 film from Paul McGuigan, the world seems virtually overrun with psychics of varying power descriptors. Actually, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it certainly starts to feel that way after you’ve been introduced to about the seventh different type of evolved human. Watchers can see the future; Movers have telekinetic abilities; Pushers exert control on the minds of others; Sniffs can track someone from a scent decades old; and don’t forget about the Shifters, Shadows, Stitches and Bleeders. There might be more, but it’s really not worth your time to find out. While Push does offer some unique thrills in the early stages, the whole structure of the film eventually collapses beneath a plot overloaded with twists, double-crosses, and way-too-complicated machinations.

The story begins ten years in the past, with a father and his son on the run from the shadowy government agency known as Division. It seems that Division likes to capture and experiment on psychics, something the Nazis started all the way back in WWII. The father buys his son enough time to escape, but not before dying at the hands of one of Division’s own super-powered agents, a Pusher by the name of Carver (Djimon Hounsou). With the psychic father protecting his gifted child from the government, it’s hard not to be reminded of Firestarter. In fact, Stephen King’s novel referred to the act of using psychic powers as “pushing.“ What a pity that George C. Scott isn’t around to reprise his role as the psychotic Native American assassin, John Rainbird.

Back to present day, and we’re introduced to Kira Hudson (Camilla Belle), a Pusher in the custody of Division. It seems that the government is trying to create an army of psychics, and they’re constantly injecting them with drugs to boost their powers. Unfortunately, this only seems to result in a bunch of dead psychics, as nobody has ever survived the process. Nobody, of course, until Kira goes under the needle. She quickly escapes custody, and Carver and his goons follow in hot pursuit.

We then rejoin the young boy from scene #1, except this time Nick Gant (Chris Evans) is all grown up. He’s living in Hong Kong, and it appears that he’s never spent much time developing his powers to their full potential (he tries to fix a craps game but blows it). Nick, by the way, is a Mover, blessed with the ability to move objects and people with his mind. After Division Sniffs pay him a visit looking for Kira, he gets a knock on his door from 13-year-old Cassie Holmes (Dakota Fanning). You guessed it – Cassie is also a psychic (a Watcher, to be more precise).

She asks for Nick’s help in finding a suitcase containing six-million dollars. Nick is understandably skeptical, but the duo are soon forced together following an attack by Triad psychics. From there, Nick and Cassie travel all over Hong Kong, rubbing elbows with Shifters, Shadows, and a partridge in a pear tree. Meanwhile, powered individuals from both China and America are trying to hunt them down and intercept the case, which may contain something far more valuable than a few million bucks. And don’t forget about Kira, the escapee who may very well be the key to a life without government persecution.

The first half of Push shows some amount of promise with its good-looking actors engaged in a series of psychic showdowns. Fish explode from the sonic screams of a Triad member, while Nick gets locked into a telekinetic battle and tossed around like a rag doll.

Alas, the film simply tries to be too clever for its own good. Memories are erased, Watchers are constantly scribbling the future, and a series of secret envelopes are distributed (to be opened when scribe David Bourla has written himself into a corner). The last half of Push plays out like some kind of psychic scavenger hunt, with its characters racing about Hong Kong and collecting a series of items. There’s also a lame twist down the stretch that’s meant to surprise but feels completely underwhelming.

Chris Evans is great at off-the-cuff charm, as he adequately demonstrated in his role as Johnny Storm in the Fantastic Four films. Here, his talents are never put to full use, and he’s mostly asked to play the role of the action hero with a stiff upper lip. Nick Gant doesn’t make the most believable action hero, however, as he spends most of the movie getting his ass kicked by everyone from angry Asian gangsters to slinky psychic surgeons.

The rest of the cast is hit or miss, with most simply turning in one-note performances. Dakota Fanning shows maturity beyond her age at times, and her years of acting experience certainly show through. The lovely Camilla Belle, meanwhile, demonstrates all the charisma of a wet noodle. Cliff Curtis adds a little class to the proceedings as a former Division agent named (get this) Hook Waters.

A romantic angle is introduced between Nick and Kira, but it never succeeds thanks to Belle’s complete lack of personality. Director Paul McGuigan also seems intent on setting any scene between the young lovers to music. He does this elsewhere in the film, creating a moment which seems straight out of a Guy Ritchie tribute. I kept expecting Jason Statham to show up and start kicking people. Actually, that would’ve been an improvement.