Push It Good

Watched this film with the "Stoners" and our guest from Sydney. I can't believe we picked this over "Valkyrie".



"Push"
Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert!

First, there's the Division - a top secret American bureau of power-wielding individuals. Kira – a “pusher” (she can put thoughts inside people’s minds) – escapes the Division and steals the key to their super serum project. She sneaks herself to Hong Kong where the rest of the story drags on… literally.

In comes Cassie (Dakota Fanning), a “watcher” (a clairvoyant), and her predestined bodyguard Nick (Chris Evans), a “mover” (he’s got telekinesis). According to the latter’s foretelling drawings, they need to look for the serum – and thus look for Kira too – to bring down the Division. When they finally get together, the group seeks aid from other gifted allies as they find out that a Chinese crime ring (led by people with super powers too) is also out lose to find the serum.

In an exaggeratedly brilliant maneuver, Nick devises a plan that throws off both the Division and the Chinese gangster, leading to the demise of the groups’ top dogs and the recovery of the coveted item.

The verdict…
It’s a classic example of an “it could have been better” film.

The production (settings, effects, editing and all) is above average. I’m all praises for the cinematography as they did a good job capturing the hubbub of Hong Kong’s busy districts and present it in a grungy yet still artsy kind of way. This is complemented well by the film’s musical scoring. Nice pick of tracks.

The effects are not outright awesome but are not sloppy either. I like the idea of hovering pistols and another “mover” Victor deflecting bullets with telekinetic barriers. The ripples created around deflected bullets are almost negligible but its addition is an eye-fancy.

Having said these, the down side of the movie is not on its more apparent parts but rather on the slow pacing of the story itself. In such steady pace, usually the characters or the plot get too overdeveloped but in “Push” it’s not. For me, the character development is even not enough. So what’s left in between to fill the prolonged scenes is dragging dialogues and trivial info-feeding.

The concept is actually good no matter how you can relate some aspects of it to some of the latest superhero flicks. Some superhuman abilities are presented in interesting ways like when “pushers” dilate eyes when they shove thoughts in the mind of others or how “shifters” metamorphose things in a whim. The world created by the film itself should be creative enough to be able to play around with a good screenplay but here’s where they fail big time.

While the film slowly creeps towards the climax, the resolution is rushed and unimaginative. Nick’s “genius” plans impossibly snapped right into place and most are obviously forced into happening. One specific scene that made me want to walk out of the cinema is when a henchman crashes on top of a car where Nick is locked up, wrecking its chassis and freeing him out of it. I’m usually forgiving when “luck” is in line with providential happenings on movies but sorry I just can’t stomach to buy this lack of creativity.

The casts are so so. Dakota Fanning (Cassie) is uncharacteristically dull. I particularly don’t dig how she acted when she was supposed to be drunk. She looks more like drugged than drunk. See the difference? Camille Belle (Kira) is cool. Chris Evans (Nick) is so so. Djimon Hounsou (Agent Carver) is convincing as a bad guy. Neil Jackson (Victor) is underexposed when his character rocks and more interesting than the Chinese gangster’s female “watcher”. The Chinese gangster’s pair of male banshees is hilarious but I must admit that the movie is able to pull off depicting a sonic blast.

All in all, it had been just a typical hero flick movie when it could have the materials to come up with something worthy of a good following. The lose ends (lots of them) will definitely need a sequel but I hope its screenplay will not be as crappy.

Four of Ten.

Push It Good

Watched this film with the "Stoners" and our guest from Sydney. I can't believe we picked this over "Valkyrie".



"Push"
Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert!

First, there's the Division - a top secret American bureau of power-wielding individuals. Kira – a “pusher” (she can put thoughts inside people’s minds) – escapes the Division and steals the key to their super serum project. She sneaks herself to Hong Kong where the rest of the story drags on… literally.

In comes Cassie (Dakota Fanning), a “watcher” (a clairvoyant), and her predestined bodyguard Nick (Chris Evans), a “mover” (he’s got telekinesis). According to the latter’s foretelling drawings, they need to look for the serum – and thus look for Kira too – to bring down the Division. When they finally get together, the group seeks aid from other gifted allies as they find out that a Chinese crime ring (led by people with super powers too) is also out lose to find the serum.

In an exaggeratedly brilliant maneuver, Nick devises a plan that throws off both the Division and the Chinese gangster, leading to the demise of the groups’ top dogs and the recovery of the coveted item.

The verdict…
It’s a classic example of an “it could have been better” film.

The production (settings, effects, editing and all) is above average. I’m all praises for the cinematography as they did a good job capturing the hubbub of Hong Kong’s busy districts and present it in a grungy yet still artsy kind of way. This is complemented well by the film’s musical scoring. Nice pick of tracks.

The effects are not outright awesome but are not sloppy either. I like the idea of hovering pistols and another “mover” Victor deflecting bullets with telekinetic barriers. The ripples created around deflected bullets are almost negligible but its addition is an eye-fancy.

Having said these, the down side of the movie is not on its more apparent parts but rather on the slow pacing of the story itself. In such steady pace, usually the characters or the plot get too overdeveloped but in “Push” it’s not. For me, the character development is even not enough. So what’s left in between to fill the prolonged scenes is dragging dialogues and trivial info-feeding.

The concept is actually good no matter how you can relate some aspects of it to some of the latest superhero flicks. Some superhuman abilities are presented in interesting ways like when “pushers” dilate eyes when they shove thoughts in the mind of others or how “shifters” metamorphose things in a whim. The world created by the film itself should be creative enough to be able to play around with a good screenplay but here’s where they fail big time.

While the film slowly creeps towards the climax, the resolution is rushed and unimaginative. Nick’s “genius” plans impossibly snapped right into place and most are obviously forced into happening. One specific scene that made me want to walk out of the cinema is when a henchman crashes on top of a car where Nick is locked up, wrecking its chassis and freeing him out of it. I’m usually forgiving when “luck” is in line with providential happenings on movies but sorry I just can’t stomach to buy this lack of creativity.

The casts are so so. Dakota Fanning (Cassie) is uncharacteristically dull. I particularly don’t dig how she acted when she was supposed to be drunk. She looks more like drugged than drunk. See the difference? Camille Belle (Kira) is cool. Chris Evans (Nick) is so so. Djimon Hounsou (Agent Carver) is convincing as a bad guy. Neil Jackson (Victor) is underexposed when his character rocks and more interesting than the Chinese gangster’s female “watcher”. The Chinese gangster’s pair of male banshees is hilarious but I must admit that the movie is able to pull off depicting a sonic blast.

All in all, it had been just a typical hero flick movie when it could have the materials to come up with something worthy of a good following. The lose ends (lots of them) will definitely need a sequel but I hope its screenplay will not be as crappy.

Four of Ten.