February 8, 2009 -- “Push” is a ripoff of the “Heroes” TV show, which is not all that great a TV series, but it works a hell of a lot better than “Push” does. “Heroes,” is itself a ripoff of “The X-Men.” My advice. If you want to see a movie about mutants with superpowers, watch any of the X-Men movies or the “Hellboy” movies or “Wanted,” any of those six movies is far superior to this. Even the weak genre film “Jumper” was better than this turkey. It fails in nearly every area, except that it does manage a few good action scenes and some decent special effects.

The movie follows the well-worn formula of a couple of mutants on the run from a bunch of other mutants working for a secret branch of the government called “Division.” Division killed the telekinetic father (played by Joel Gretsch) of another telekinetic Nick Gant (Chris Evans). Nick has been on the run from Division ever since then. Although Nick has considerable telekinetic powers, he has never developed them, despite years of trying. He meets up with Cassie Holmes (Dakota Fanning of “The Secret Life of Bees”) in Hong Kong (where most of the movie was filmed). Cassie is a “watcher,” meaning she can see future events. Her mother was also a watcher and she set all of the plot in motion in the past. Another key player is Kira Hudson (Camilla Belle of “10,000 B.C.”) who escapes from a Division hospital with a syringe full of mutant steroids which can increase the power of mutants. Kira is the only person who has ever survived an injection of the drug. She is a “Pusher” (a name copied from an “X-Files” episode of the same name about a guy with the same capabilities) able to enter the minds of others and make them do what she wants them to do. She can even implant false memories into their minds.

These three are on the run both from Division agents and Hong Kong mutant agents, who are all after the same syringe. Their mutual quest ends up getting a lot of people killed and destroying a large amount of valuable Hong Kong property. Both the Division agents and Hong Kong agents have mutants with similar powers, except for some of the Hong Kong agents have some non-mental powers. Instead, they are able to make deadly sound waves by yelling really loud. During their running battles with the various mutant agents, Nick suddenly develops his powers to a much greater degree than he did during his previous 10 years. There is no explanation given for his sudden increase in ability. Maybe it is because of adrenalin.

The story does manage to make some sense, but not much. The characters remain relatively undeveloped. We learn very little about them or their motives. The whole story would have made more sense if the forces opposed to Division were organized. They are not. Division, and similar agencies of other governments seem to have a strangle hold on mutants everywhere. That makes it unlikely for the mutants on the loose to have much of a chance against such great power aligned against them. If the free mutants were fighting for freedom and engaged in a struggle with the various governments seeking to control them, that would have made for a more interesting story. The ending of the story is unresolved. It looks like this was meant to be the beginning of a series. If it is. I hope the next film is a lot better than this one. This film rates a C.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2009 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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