DVD Review of Push With Chris Evans
Paul McGuigan Directs This Special Effects Sci-Fi Action Thriller
Aug 10, 2009
In Push, a science fiction action thriller filled with special effects and dazzling background color, the mind is the most powerful weapon.
Chris Evans Stars as a Telekinetic Mover
Set in Hong Kong, and taking full advantage of the vibrantly colored walls, furnishings, tiles, and even toilet stalls, Push follows a small group of Americans with paranormal abilities trying to flee an organization called The Division. Determined to make these gifted individuals work as weapons for the U.S. Government, a team of doctors and paranormal thugs (lead by Djimon Hounsou) attempts to track down this group by sniffing their toothbrushes and touching items they once touched.
Among the group are a telekinetic Mover (Chris Evans of Sunshine and Battle for Terra), a mind-controlling Pusher (Camilla Belle of 10,000 BC and The Chumscrubber), and an illustrating future-seeing Watcher (Dakota Fanning of War of the Worlds and Coraline). Together they make a powerful team, yet still rely upon the occasional gun for protection when planting thoughts or moving objects can’t ensure their safety.
Push Creates a Team of Psychic Human Weapons
Through chemical injections and additional physical and mental tampering, The Division turns the psychics into human weapons. That is, until one person escapes. A young woman named Kira Hollis (Belle) leaps off the operating table and heads out the door on a wild escape that has Division personnel searching all over Hong Kong for her.
Meanwhile, a 13-year-old girl (Fanning) intrudes upon the life of Nick Grant (Evans), a minimally talented Mover who owes tremendous gambling debts because he can’t quite get the dice to move in his favor. Although grudgingly at first, eventually Nick agrees to help the girl (and a few other ex-Division psychics) look for Kira, find a missing briefcase containing a crucial syringe, and avoid getting captured, killed, or “pushed” by the highly determined paranormal operative Henry Carver (Hounsou), sent by The Division.
Derivative of X-Men, Watchmen, and Dreamscape
The characters and story are reminiscent of the recent groups of psychically gifted superheroes in X-Men and Watchmen who sometimes fight against their own kind in order to serve others. The main character, Nick, also has much in common with the dream-linking main character in the 1984 science fiction thriller Dreamscape, about a young male psychic who uses his talents on gambling at the track until he is forced into a more noble purpose.
Though visually exciting and beautiful to watch, the convoluted story of Push is ultimately unsatisfying and the ambivalent ending seems to set the stage for “Push 2.” The DVD bonus features can add to viewer satisfaction and answer some of the questions raised by the uncertain ending.
Push DVD Bonus Features
In addition to audio commentary, this DVD release includes four deleted scenes (that were rightfully removed from the film) with director’s commentary and a short feature about the science behind government utilization of people with paranormal abilities.
Deleted Scenes
- Cassie Buys Alcohol
- Stowe and Popgirl on Phone
- Cassie Hides from Stowe
- Stowe Killed by Popgirl
“Push: The Science Behind the Fiction”
This interesting featurette includes illustrative clips from the film and other sources dealing with paranormal abilities. Director Paul McGuigan provides commentary about the film’s subject (rather than the actual filmmaking), along with Dr. John Alexander, United States Special Operations Consultant, who describes real studies done on people with similar – though less-amplified – powers to those shown in Push.
- A small group of Americans with paranormal powers hides in Hong Kong from a secret agency called The Division that wants to turn them into human weapons.
- Starring Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Djimon Hounsou, Camilla Belle, Maggie Siff, Ming-Na, Xiaolu Li, Hal Yamanouchi
- Director: Paul McGuigan
- Writer: David Bourla
- Run Time: 111 minutes
- Rating: PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence and action, brief strong language, and teen drinking)
- DVD Bonus Features: Audio commentary with Paul McGuigan, Chris Evans, and Dakota Fanning; Deleted Scenes with Director’s Commentary; “The Science Behind the Fiction” Featurette.”
For more information about paranormal abilities and the U.S. Military, read Overture Acquires The Men Who Stare At Goats.
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