I think we can officially declare the superhero genre the new form of exploitation movie. When it seemed that Joel Schumacher has officially killed the genre completely, along came a third string hero like Blade to save everything which resulted in adaptations of Spider-Man, The X-Men, Iron Man . . . you now the list at this point. Even Ant-Man and Thor are slated to get their own movies. With all the big names taken these days there are only a few choices left. You could take some hero that no one cares about and give them their own film and while it worked for Blade that might not be true of everyone. The other option is to just come up with an “original” idea and try and pass it off as having the same feeling as a superhero movie.

Push opens by trying to give us a back story which involves the Nazi’s doing experiments in order to create psychic spies, something that never ended and was in reality conducted by every nation of power in secret. This lead to the creation of Division, a section of our government that continues to work on these experiments and keep those who are a part of it in check and we then flashback to ten years earlier to the events seen in the movie with the fact of Nick Grant trying to get him out of Division. While Nick manages to get to safety, his father isn’t quite as lucky and is stopped by Agent Henry Carver (Djimon Hounsou) and his men.

In the present day, Kira (Camilla Belle) has also managed to escape Division and is one of the few test subjects to survive the use of a drug which is said to amplify abilities. Nick (Chris Evans) has been living under the radar of Division but is soon tracked down by two Sniff Agents who are looking for Kira. Nick is then approached by Cassie Holmes (Dakota Fanning), a watcher who has seen that Nick might be the only person to help. While he’s reluctant at first, he soon becomes ensnared in the events that are happening around him and is compelled to help Kira, who he has been in a relationship in the past. The Chinese are also after Kira as well as the drug and there is one thing that Cassie has seen which doesn’t seem promising; the death of both her and Nick. Soon, their affiliation with others who are against Division begins to grow as they try and take down the organization once and for all.

Push feels like it was perhaps an attempt to get another one of Marvel’s many mutant teams for a theatrical debut and at this point, there are far too many of them; the New Mutant, X-Factor, X-Force, Excalibur . . . the list just never seems to end. The movie wants to try and work in a great deal of background in just a matter of minutes, something that is true to every superhero these days who is making a movie appearance but the difference is that while something like The X-Men really only focuses on the important aspects and doesn’t try to cover every single detail, Push seems to feel the need to get in as much as it possibly can.

There are nine different types of psychic individuals who are all given some manner to detail as well as names. Nick is a mover, someone who is capable of using telekinesis manipulate objects, though since Nick has been away from Division, he’s not very good with his powers. Cassie on the other hand is a watcher who can see the future while Kira is a pusher who can control the thoughts and memories of others. Then there are shadows who can obscure a person or object, sniffers who act as bloodhounds for the agency, and shifters who might have the only truly useful power in the entire movie.

One of the problems with the film however is that it seems to have difficulty really identifying what it wants to be; it has elements of being a superhero style movie, but then it seems have the tendency to be some pseudo-espionage film with the powers of good trying to overcome the powers of evil. There are revenge aspects, attempts to free other individuals locked somewhere in the vaults of Division, and if that wasn’t enough, there are new characters constantly being introduced with very little introduction given to them. Aside from being tracked by Carver for example, Nick and the others have a group of Triads trying to find them with the help of a more powerful watcher (Li Xiaolu) than Cassie. But, we’re never really given much of a change to understand the true workings of this collective aside from the fact they have powers as well and they act as being nothing more than a diversion for most of the film. It feels more like a time killer instead of a true element to the story.

Push lacks the impressive flair of other superhero movies. The battles are less than memorable, the dialog is bland and uninteresting, and the script quickly loses any true identify of its own and instead feels more like a patchwork of “the best of” from other movies. With some many characters, none of them are even given a chance to develop much and reach a point where we can like them or completely hate them. Even Carver never manages to hit a point of being a memorable villain and instead just feels like an underling working for Division without much to keep him in our minds. It’s everything that we’ve seen before from television, movies, or have read in comic books. The only thing that was lacking was teenage angst and parental problems to really make certain that it was everything that every other superhero movie is.

This is the second film I’ve reviewed over the course of a few days that used Asia as a backdrop for the action. As usual, there are some very impressive scenes and locations that are shown during the course of the film, but everything else about it really tends to bog down any enjoyment that you might have. The picture quality is adequate, thought nothing outstanding, and Push stands as being a high definition release that isn’t bad to look at which isn’t really enough in my opinion. A film needs to go beyond just “looking good” and offer something more.

The release is as spares on extra features as it is on making any real sense. Paul McGuigan, Chris Evans and Dakota Fanning all participate in the commentary which is included, but even with this you’ll hear mention that Push isn’t exactly the type of movie that can be explained easily. True psychic phenomenon is explored a bit further in The Science Behind the Fiction as well as how they have been worked into the movie and there are a few deleted scenes, but that’s all the is offered here.

As I recall, even seeing the trailers for Push had given me little hope that this was going to be anything substantial. It’s difficult for anyone to bring anything to the table that doesn’t already have an established name behind it and while some adaptations of novels have been decent, they still aren’t on par with the Peter Parker’s and Tony Stark’s of cinema. The worst offense however is that Push is left open for a sequel which I doubt will happen, though there have been movies that have made less of a profit that just show no signs of dying. Push is a valiant effort, but one that is quickly wasted and just as easily forgotten.
 

-mike-