I've been anticipating the film, Push, since the first time I saw the trailer, and for good reason. It has a very X-men like premise: a world where a select number of humans have been born with fantastic powers. A great supporting cast: Dakota Fanning, Djimon Honsou, Camilla Belle, Cliff Curtis, Meng Na, and Neil Jackson from the unjustly cancelled Blade tv series. Hm? I left somebody out? Oh yeah, the Human Torch is in this too. But since I think he has all the acting talent of a block of hard cheese I left him off the list. It certainly helps that BDK, who once again lamely hosted this 106.7FM screening, loudly proclaimed his undying support for the actor. It makes him so much easier to dislike.
Evans plays Nick Gant, a second generation mover. No, that doesn't mean he works for U-Haul or Starving Students, it means he's a telekinetic. When he was a child he saw his father killed by the clandestine organization known as Division. Nick has been trying to live under the radar ever since. Division has been rounding up super powered individuals to create an army subservient to the US government, but the most promising one has escaped. Nick runs into a dour, gloomy Cassie, who tells Nick that she needs his help in finding a suitcase that Division is also seeking. She also drops the little nugget that both he and she will die at the end of this little Easter egg hunt. Against all possible logic, Nick finds himself embroiled in a massive mutant jambalaya, as different factions seek the whereabouts of the missing suitcase. You've got the super powered Chinese Triads; you've got Division; you've got a dude who can create holograms; a healer with a chip on her shoulder...it's one big mess.
But that's actually kinda the fun of it. When watching this, I couldn't help but be reminded of last year's Jumper. The two films are similar in both premise and execution, but what Push does better is creating a large, immerssive world full of interesting characters with varying motivations to make them interesting. For instance, Cliff Curtis plays Hook Waters, a shifter who can basically change the form and shape of other objects. He lives his upscale life by converting plain paper into cash, hanging out at high priced strip clubs all day. But he's still a decent guy with a deep past with Division. I wanted to know more about him, and if they do a sequel I hope he's involved. The same goes for Djimon Honsou's Henry Carver, a "pusher" who is the Division leader and all around badass. As a pusher, he can shove thoughts into the heads of others, meaning he can convince you to throw yourself off a bridge if he wanted to. It's a talent he uses to devastating effect, but we learn precious little about the man himself. I wanted to know more.
In fact if I have one major beef with this film it's that everyone else other than Nick seems to have a story to tell. Nick is just sortof along for the ride. Cassie's mother is the greatest watcher of all time, and she's being held captive by Division. Cassie has a running rivalry with a Chinese watcher that provides some of the funnier moments of the film. Even Camilla Belle, playing the runaway pusher Kira, could have an interesting part to play in a sequel. But Evans provides no depth to Nick at all. Not that I should be surprised by that, but I found him to be the lamest of all. I was hoping he'd die off so the film could really take flight.
This is a franchise with a lot of potential based off of this first installment. The action, while not as much as I would've preferred, was solid. The two showdowns between Nick and Carver's sidekick powerhouse Victor are simply awesome, with tons of kinetic energy being unleashed at the other. The quiet moments lack a little something, but that is mostly due to the leaden Evans weighing them down. He simply can't compete with the acting talent around him, even in a film like this. Still, Push is an exciting, kinetic action film with loads of potential. If they can find a way to amp up the action a notch, while providing just a little bit more insight into the people behind Division, this could turn out to be a great franchise.
7/10
