Push (2009)

Listen to me, Nick. Someday a girl is going to give you a flower. You have to help her Nick. Help her, help us all.

– Nick’s Father

Push flew under the radar with me, because people were lukewarm to this movie. I can see why.

The story centers on present day Hong Kong, where a group of people has special abilities. The main guy is a “mover” named Nick (Chris Evans), who essentially can push objects out of the way. The Division, an evil organization headed by a “pusher” Dr. Henry Carver (Djimon Hounsou), who could implant false memories into any person by staring at them, is after people like Nick to create the ultimate unstoppable.

One day, a feisty thirteen-year-old girl, Cassie (Dakota Fanning), who is a “watcher”, which could predict possible futures by chronicling their visions on paper, visits him. Cassie tells Nick that they need to team up against Carver and his bodyguard, Victor (Neil Jackson) by trying to find another pusher, Kira (Camilla Belle) who is the only person to survive a dangerous drug injection.

During their journey, the audience is introduced to a gang of “bleeders”, who could produce supersonic screams that make the victims ear bleed. There is the head bleeder, the Pop Father (Hal Yamanouchi) with his watcher, Pop Girl (Xiaolu Li).

Then, we are introduced to “sniffs”, “shifters”, “stitchers”, “wipers” and “shadows”. Sniffs  like Carver’s henchmen,  Mack (Corey Stoll) and Holden (Scott Michael Campbell) could pick up the timeline of person from an intimate object that has their scent on it.

Nick and Cassie recruit a shifter that was a part of the Division at one time, Hook Waters (Cliff Curtis). His ability is to change objects into anything that he wants, like an illusionist. There is another sniffer named Emily Hu (Ming-Na) and a shadow, Pinky (Nate Mooney), who has the ability to block watchers from tracking the group down.

The movie is not bad. There is too many characters coming at you. So many different classes of people with these abilities that your head spins trying to keep up. There were some decent action sequences. Some of fight sequences with the movers felt cheesy. A floating gun in the air is not cool. It has never been cool. Stop doing that.

The movie felt too long to enjoy it.

Judgment: At least this movie is better than Wolverine.

Rating: ***