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Dir. Paul McGuigan, US, 2009, 111 mins
Cast: Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Camilla Belle, Cliff Curtis, Djimon Hounsou
Review by Matthew Rodgers
It's no push to say that Paul McGuigan's actioner is the most valiant attempt to create an original science-fiction landscape since The Wachowski Brothers threw out the rule book with The Matrix in 1999. Everything since has been either derivative - Equilibrium - or downright lazy - Jumper . But Push attempts to put a different spin on the ostracised superhero tale. It's just a shame that the timing is off, because it has arrived in a world suffering from Heroes fatigue (ratings for the smash hit television show continue to plummet), while the film itself suffers from slight delusions of grandeur.
It takes the high risk move of dropping itself into an already presumed mythology. OK, we are presented with a brief A to Z voiceover from Dakota Fanning's Cassie, but once the kinetic action begins you get the feeling that you're missing something. It feels like watching a sequel rather than an original story. The Matrix may have fumbled its own Reloaded and Revolutions but the creation of that cinematic universe was given time to breathe, and at points even stopped as Fishburne spewed expository dialogue. No such thing here.
Instead we are plunged head first into the fugitive life of Nick Gant (Evans - Sunshine), a novice “mover” (he has the ability to… erm… move things), who is being pursued by a shadowy government agency known as Division. To his aid comes 13-year-old Cassie, a watcher (take a guess), who must assist Nick in order to fulfil their own entwined destinies that will play out on the Manga fused streets of Hong Kong.
The sparse budget means that the special effects are either low-key or reserved for the finale's explosive smackdown. In both instances they are effectively rendered; the thump of a “push” or “move”, given a good sound system, reverberates in the viewers chest; a “screech” is ear-piercing to the point of overdoing it and the visual trickery used on the bad guys' eyes is a nice little touch, of which there are many. It's the natural elements to the characters' “superpowers” that give Push a scuzzy, dirty air of realism, and it's this inventiveness that separates it from the sub-standard pack.
The cast are uniformly excellent, even if you don't get to know them as well as you might wish. The double act of Fanning and Evans impresses the most. She is scarily mature in her first real “grown up” role, coming across as a neo-noir version of Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver, while her crush on Evans' character adds an emotional investment that's otherwise lacking. Evans himself continues to be anything but pigeon holed in the embryonic stages of his career, picking interesting fare such as this to balance up the mainstream guff like Fantastic Four. Here he represents our point of view, as initially perplexed with proceedings as the audience and it's his charisma that carries the film past the frantic market chase opening.
Djimon Hounsou and Camilla Belle do not fare as well in their respective roles. He is little more than a shady bad guy with a clichéd “you killed my father” link to our hero, and she becomes a convenient victim who also has, wait for it, a link to our hero's past.
Credit must go to McGuigan for creating a stylish, street-smart slice of science fiction – the memory loss finale is mind boggling genius – and had he not intended to launch a franchise rather than make a singular stand alone movie, we might have been able to look forward to some further adventures from these characters. Unfortunately the film's measly haul of $20M in the USA has put paid to that. Push will have to remain an excellent misfire destined for cult status.
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