Push is an interesting film about a group of people with superpowers - but they're not crime-fighting superheroes, rather they're on the run from a government agency called The Division. The Division are in fact continuing the work started during the second world war to create people with special abilities.  These include "Sniffers" who can trace a person's location and past actions by smelling objects they've been in contact with; "Screamers" who... well, they scream and things break (including people); "Watchers" who can discern the future to an extent; "Movers" who can move things by telekinesis (boring but potentially useful) and finally "Pushers", who can insert thoughts and memories into people's heads.  There are more, but none that are particularly important to the plot of the film. 

The movie starts with a young boy called Nick and his father on the run from The Division.   Nick's father is a Mover, the most powerful ever, and not exactly following orders.  Things end badly for his father, but Nick escapes, not before seeing the face of Henry Carver (Djimon Hounsou), the man responsible for his father's death.  It's a face he'll never forget, and a face that will come back to haunt him in the future...

Jump forward a decade and Nick (Chris Evans) has managed to escape the attentions of The Division so far... but this is about to come to an end.  He has developed a tiny fraction of his father's moving skills, but they are still extremely undeveloped.  Living in Hong Kong, Nick's life is turned upside down when a young girl called Cassie Holmes (Dakota Fanning) enters it.  She is a Watcher, though her skills are somewhat erratic, and often the meaning of the drawings she makes of her visions are a bit confusing.  After a bit of convincing which involves a run-in with a local Yakuza family (at least that's what I assume they were), Nick finds himself on the run from both them and The Division, and saddled with both Cassie and a young woman called Kira Hudson (Camilla Belle), who seems to be the key to the whole thing.  Unfortunately Cassie also believes that Kira will end up getting them all killed.  Cassie has her own mission which coincides with what's happening to Nick - her mother, the greatest Watcher there's ever been, is imprisoned by The Division because she is just too dangerous.

Push is filmed in a heavily stylised manner, with some of the shots looking like they were ripped from a surveillance camera.  This suits the mood of the film well and adds atmosphere, adding to the feeling of the characters being watched by unseen forces.  Some of the action sequences are also quite impressive, with so much going on that it sometimes dazzles the senses.  Unfortunately the huge action set-piece at the end just gets a bit too ridiculous and I wasn't really keen on the twist at the end, which did take the shine off an otherwise very interesting film.

The characters are interesting and the acting is very good - Chris Evans and Dakota Fanning are tremendous, and no-one else was noticeably bad.  Evans really throws himself into a role almost diametrically opposite his "Flameboy" routine in The Fantastic Four, and Fanning continues to impress.  Djimon Hounsou was also very good, quietly menacing and creepy.

The film is rated 12A (UK) PG-13 (US) for intense sequences of violence and action, brief strong language, smoking and a scene of teen drinking.  I'm certain that not all parents would be happy for their young children to watch this, so some caution is advised in this regard.  The music score is odd but in a was that fits the film perfectly.

The way things are developed is interesting and sometimes clever, but in the end there are too many plot holes for me to give this 4 stars - it just doesn't hold together very well under any kind of close scrutiny.  However I still enjoyed Push - it's a different kind of movie that won't please those who only like mainstream movies or glossy Hollywood productions, but anyone who likes films that are a bit different from the norm will probably find a lot to enjoy here.  I would have enjoyed it more if they hadn't gone for the overblown action scene towards the end, but to me Push was still worth watching.


Related Links

Chris Evans- The Fantastic Four, The Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer, The Nanny Diaries, TMNT (voice)
Dakota Fanning - Uptown Girls, Charlotte's Web
Djimon Hounsou - The Island, Gladiator

Recommended: Yes