Summit Entertainment, since its release of Twilight, has pretty much been on top of the world lately, pumping out a series of movies with the geetus, some of which turned out better than others. One such movie was Push, a movie that didn’t stick around long in theatres. The question of the day, of course (not to mention the one we’ll be tackling right now) is, does it make sense that it didn’t stick around long?
First, though, some background–Push is the story of a world in which government agents and such have mental powers. There are Watchers (precognitives who can see the future), Movers (psychokinetics who can move things with their minds) and Pushers (people who can exercise telepathic control over others). When a Watcher and a Mover steal a briefcase containing a secret worth billions to the right person, the government’s out to get their hands on it too. So to evade the government, the Watcher and the Mover go in search of a Pusher to keep themselves trail-free. But will the Pusher help them…or ruin them?
It’s a strange sort of action / science fiction hybrid, with plenty of exciting moments but a pretty glossed-over backstory. But then, this really isn’t about the backstory, is it? No, this is about watching people toss each other around like rag dolls and try to shatter their skulls with ultrasonic screams.
Really, all Push is is a slightly darker X-Men with a limited number of mutant powers set in Hong Kong. This isn’t to say it’s a bad movie, but it’s a very straightforward and sort of predictable movie. You don’t really have to be a Watcher to see much of this coming, but you’ll likely have a good time while you’re watching.
In all honesty, I’m not sure why this is a movie in the first place. It would’ve made a vastly better comic book series than a movie. They’re trying to do too much with entirely too little–to be fair, this could’ve easily been several different movies. If it were part one of a series, it might make a little more sense. But as it stands, Push feels oddly unfinished, somehow incomplete, lacking some basic fundamental sense of SOMETHING that leaves it less than satisfying.
But again, I want to emphasize…this is NOT a bad movie. No, not by any stretch of the imagination. What is here is at least passably well done and at least mildly entertaining to watch. It probably was for the best that Push got out of theatres quickly to make room for other movies, because this one is actually a better rental than a theatre stop. There aren’t any special effects here that require a giant screen–no big ships, no massive explosions, nothing really image-intensive (though I confess I love watching guns float around and being operated remotely).
Instead, there are good fight scenes, a few interesting surprises, quite a bit of the kind of thing you’ve already seen, and a lingering sense of dissatisfaction.
Push is definitely a better rental than anything else, and manages to rank a six out of ten–slightly better than the average, but not without significant flaw.
