PUSH Review

Just as I expected, PUSH is a poor excuse for action movie. Anybody who though this was going to be as cool as X-Men or any other team out there with cool superpowers will have it wrong because PUSH doesn’t do enough… to entertain you. It keeps you confused as to what exactly going on and once you figure it out, you will wish you remained out of the loop.

The Division, a shadowy government agency, is genetically transforming citizens into an army of psychic warriors—and brutally disposing of those unwilling to participate. Nick Gant (Chris Evans), a second-generation telekinetic or “mover,” has been in hiding since the Division murdered his father more than a decade earlier. He has found sanctuary in densely populated Hong Kong—the last safe place on earth for fugitive psychics like him—but only if he can keep his gift a secret.
Nick is forced out of hiding when Cassie Holmes (Dakota Fanning), a 13-year-old clairvoyant or “watcher,” seeks his help in finding Kira, (Camilla Belle), an escaped “pusher” who may hold the key to ending the Division’s program. Pushers possess the most dangerous of all psychic powers: the ability to influence others’ actions by implanting thoughts in their minds. But Cassie’s presence soon attracts the attention of the Division’s human bloodhounds, forcing Nick and Cassie to flee for their lives.

What I really hate about PUSH is that the action sequences are mediocre, it’s as if the filmmaker wants to play safe. Only a few moments would it have some interesting, extraordinary ways that the characters can do to defend themselves but for the most part, the scenes would happen way too quickly and go back to just endless game of trying too hard to be all mythological. The twist ending is old news, and you can tell that it wants to build a foundation for a continuing franchise by setting up all these information and the whole outplaying the opponents but there’s not much cleverness to it. It lacks effective humor and punch lines that would ease the tension but then again, there’s little tension to begin with, overshadowed by boring speeches and cheesy dialogue.

I understand the characters are not mutants,.. they’re just people with advanced psychic abilities but some of these powers are just downright silly, instead of looking at them as cool.. you’d laugh because they’d sniff every single thing just to know where a person’s been.
The story could’ve been simple and straightforward but nope, it packs in too many elements that don’t compliment each other, the audience is left yawning and the quality comes off B-rated, like it’s amateur time.
As far as the acting goes, well let’s just say that the most talented of the bunch, Djimon Honsou is wasting his time with this gig and should return to Oscar worthy roles, Cliff Curtis, a gifted actor probably who in my opinion has the only interesting superpower because what he does is practically magician skills using tricks and illusion. Chris Evans doesn’t cut it as a bad boy, he’s too much Johnny Storm to be any other role. Dakota Fanning is a great young actress but after seeing this, you’re going to wonder whatever happened to the Dakota Fanning we once knew. Maybe it’s her character or maybe it’s her way of presenting that character, whatever it is, her performance is dull, unlikeable, weird and zombie-like.

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