Released September 10, 2009
One thing is for certain: Dakota Fanning is a star. Throughout this ridiculous excuse for a thriller she managers to make expositional and inane dialogue believable while her co-stars fail to infuse life into their stereotypes: hers is the only character who is a character.
Admittedly they were working from a screenplay that has plenty of good ideas and no idea what to do with them. The premise is that governments all over the world have secretly created people with supernatural abilities. Some have the power of telekinesis (“movers”) while others can pretend they're Obi-Wan and perform Jedi-mind tricks (“pushers”). Planning to exploit them for their own nefarious ends, a group known as the “The Division" hunts for the rogue psychics who dare rebel against them. That would be mover Nick Gant (Chris Evans), pusher Kira (Camilla Belle) and Fanning as Cassie, a "watcher" who has the power to see the future.
All the elements seem to be there for your typical Hollywood thriller. Unique hook? Check. Reluctant hero? Check. Angry Bad Guy? Check. Lots of Action? Check. The only problem is that none of it works. Taking itself far too seriously, it wastes too much time trying to be cute with plot mechanics instead of establishing character.
You’d think the film's setting of Hong Kong would lend it some action pedigree, but most of it is unintentionally hilarious. I want to know at what story board meeting a telekinetic gunfight seemed like a good idea. In this particularly memorable scene, our adversaries’ hide behind two pillars as the guns float in between them. I'm curious as to how they were being aimed - do they have invisible floating eyes as well?
Director Paul McGuigan also made The Wrong Man, which was a clever piece of second-rate Tarantino. His flashy technique however can’t save Push, whose problems should have been solved at the script stage.
