(You know your Hong Kong vacation’s going down the toilet when Dakota Fanning keeps stalking you from noodle shop to noodle shop like you were the Lost Jonas Brother...)
CAST: Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Camilla Belle, Djimon Hounsou, Cliff Curtis, Ming-Na Wen, Maggie Siff, Xialu Li.
DIRECTOR: Paul McGuigan
WARNING: SPOILERS and many freakazoids (some hot, some not)up ahead...
Some films get knocked simply for being exhilirating, brisk, and tart going down. Kind of like the cinematic version of a Vodka Cranberry. PUSH is such a movie. It opened to fairly middling reviews in February 2009, and didn’t do too much at the box-office - although it did eventually make its budget back when you factor in international grosses.
The lukewarm reaction is a mystery to me, as I found it entertaining and fresh. Don’t go in expecting CITIZEN KANE or ORDINARY PEOPLE, and you just might get the multiplex-equivalent of a nice buzz. Go in expecting CITIZEN KANE or ORDINARY PEOPLE, and you just might emerge pissed off as The Hulk, ready to pulverize some theatre ushers with a stanchion.
Our story kicks off with what is basically a PowerPoint Presentation with Dakota Fanning’s character briefing us on the government’s history of studying (and exploiting) individuals with super-psychic abilities (referred to, henceforth, as “freakazoids“). We learn the various types of freakazoids: Movers (not the kind of who drop your couch and damage your furniture and generally make you want to strangle them, but someone who can move objects by thought), Pushers (not the kind that hang on street corners, waiting for school to let out, but the kind that can implant thoughts into your head and control you), Sniffers (people that can trace your whereabouts simply by sniffing something you touched, like dirty underwear - eeeewww), Watchers (not stalkers, but people who can see into the future and can draw it on paper like a particularly fucked-up doodle), and Bleeders (people who can scream like a banshee on crack, leading to ruptured organs on the part of anyone who hears them - a lot like Mariah Carey). There are numerous more, but too many to enumerate here.
At any rate, this discourse on the different kinds of freakazoids walking among us is immediately followed by a scene at The Division, the shadowy government unit responsible for tracking and experimenting on the freaks. Here, a Pusher called Kira (Camila Belle) is in a comatose state and is about to be administered a special drug that will boost her powers significantly. Unfortunately, Kira has ideas of a her own - as in: waking up, stealing a vial of the drug, beating the shit out of anyone in her way, and hightailing it out of Dodge.
The head of the Division, Agent Carver (Djimon Hounsou), understandably goes ape-shit and sends not only his best goons after Kira, but also other Freakazoids who have crossed to the dark side.
Cut to Hong Kong, where we meet Mover - and our hero - Nick Gant (Chris Evans). Some of Carver’s goons turn up at Nick’s flat, where they promptly interrogate him on any knowledge he may have of Kira’s escape. A little backstory: Nick's dad was also a freakazoid, and was shot dead by Carver and other Division slime. So... Nick, understandably wanting to be polite given his harmonious past with The Division, tells them to go fuck themselves.
Ordinarily, this probably would have pissed off the goons, but they just smile and take Nick’s toothbrush as (1) a way for the bad Sniffers to track his every move, and (2) as a way to hurt Nick’s game because he will now have bad breath, and (3) because they have a secret crush on Nick and the thought of having an instrument that his mouth touched probably gives them a disgusting erotic charge.
No worries, though, because as soon as the goons leave, Nick hears a knock on his door. Expecting more goons, he gives them a warm welcome with the business end of a .45 Beretta. Turns out the visitor is just Cassie (Dakota Fanning), a Watcher who has decided to help Nick - by bringing him a new toothbrush. His game protected, Nick reluctantly lets Cassie tag along with him. She tells him that she’s seen the future, and she needs his help to avert the horrible thing that lurks ahead of them. By “horrible thing” presumably she doesn’t mean the release of more TWILIGHT movies. But you’d be forgiven for thinking that.
At any rate, after a run-in with some Bleeders in a local fish market that spells seriously broken eardrums for lot of innocent bystanders (not to mention the bleeding fish), Cassie and an injured Nick meet up with Teresa Stowe (Maggie Siff). Teresa is a Healer, someone who can take your broken bones and hemorrhaging organs - and make them all right again by, um, rubbing your skin. After an unintentionally hot scene where she basically gives Nick the backrub-to-end-all-backrubs, they all part ways - with Nick and Cassie continuing to search for Kira, and Teresa off to give some other unsuspecting freakazoid the rubdown of his life.
Meanwhile, Kira has made her way to Hong Kong. Before she can even have time to order a General Tso’s Chicken/Chow Mein combo, Carver’s goons corner her and pick her up. On their way to catch their flight back to U.S., however, Kira gets the upper hand on the not-so-bright-to-begin-with thugs by “pushing” false thoughts into their heads and having them turn on each other. Unencumbered now by the hulking lunkheads, Kira steals their car and hightails it back to downtown Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, Nick and Cassie have enlisted the aid of Sniffer Emily Chu (Ming-Na Wen) who is, at first, reluctant to help. However, she realizes that Nick is being played by smokin’ hot Chris Evans, and that this, in turn, makes Nick smokin’ hot. And helping him just might give her a shot at some, ahem, Amerasian lovin’. So, long story short, she sniffs a bead that broke off Kira’s bracelet - and immediately points Nick and Cassie in the right direction. But not before Emily slips Nick her phone number written on a box of condoms (very subtle, Em). Okay, I made up that last part, but you just know she wanted to do it.
Anyhow, Nick and Cassie finally meet up with Kira on the Hong Kong ferry docks. Turns out Nick and Kira had a thing that ended when Kira disappeared and stopped taking Nick’s calls. Nick is ecstatic to learn that the reason for the lost contact was because Kira had been captured by The Division - and not because Kira started fucking Chris Evans who, let’s face it, looks a lot like Nick.
This reunion is cut short by Cassie’s pouting, who tells Nick that Kira is nothing but trouble and will only get them all killed. Chalking this hostility up to “Your-Average-Jealous-Bitch” syndrome, Nick takes Kira back with them to a safe house/apartment where: (1) a Shadow freakazoid named Pinky (Pinky is a male, by the way, so draw your own conclusions) is hired to block any Watchers trying to find Kira, and (2) Nick and Kira decide to have some (finally) hot bathroom sex, and (3) Cassie shows her displeasure over this by getting stone-cold drunk on some Chinese scotch. Yes, Chinese scotch. Fear that hangover.
The next day, the foursome narrowly escape a pissed-off family of Chinese Bleeders. For safety reasons (and probably to avoid Cassie’s jealous wrath) Nick decides to send Kira off with Pinky, while he stays behind to suffer more of Cassie’s relentless nagging. Way to take one for the team, dude. Unfortunately, it turns out that Pinky is a bit of a snake, and turns over Kira to Carver and his goons for what looks like a T-shirt or something. I know everyone has their own price, but this is ridiculous.
Meanwhile, back at the obligatory villain’s lair, Carver tells Kira that she is actually a Division agent herself, and volunteered to be a guinea pig (albeit, a fuckin’ hot one) for the drug intended to boost the freakazoid’s powers. Wanting to call bullshit, but not sure if she has a leg to stand on, Kira allows Carver to essentially brainwash her. Or maybe she’s got something up her sleeve. Hmmmm….
At any rate, Nick enlists the aid of Shaper freakazoid Hook Waters (Cliff Curtis), whose special ability seems to be changing paper into money - which, as far as I’m concerned, is the only ability worth having. Hook helps “shape” a duplicate briefcase containing the stolen drug, which Nick can use to fool Carver and his henchmen with.
Furthermore, it turns out that the local Chinese freakazoids want to steal the drug for themselves to boost their powers. As if things weren't complicated enough. Speaking of the locals, Cassie is engaging in her own battle with a Chinese Watcher named PopGirl (Xiaolu Li) who is also somewhat of a rival and is named as such because of her penchant for sucking on a lollipop. Well, at least she’s keeping her mouth busy, eh?
Needless to say, this rivalry ends badly for PopGirl because her rival is played by Dakota Fanning. So while PopGirl's memory is being crushed into oblivion, Nick finally meets up with Carver and Kira. Kira tells Nick that their history together was one big “push” that she planted in his head to use him, and that they never shared anything. Nick is heartbroken, because he realizes that all those mind-blowing orgasms were apparently a figment of his imagination - or more, appropriately, a figment of Kira’s imagination. Which is no different from any other woman's wishful thinking, I guess.
After a breathless shootout on a skyscraper under construction that leaves everyone but Kira and Carver dead, the two leave to catch a flight back to the States, realizing that Chinese food is better in the States. Once they're gone, Nick - who’d faked his death - springs back to life to find (shit) Cassie standing there to harp on him right where she left off. Wanting to drop-kick the little brat to Shanghai, but sensing that he needs her for the sequel, Nick lets her live and allows her to tag-along some more.
Meanwhile, on the US-bound private jet that Kira and Carver are on, Kira opens a letter that Nick had written her awhile back and comes to a series of earth-shattering realizations: (1) she was never a federal agent who volunteered to be experimented on, and (2) she and Nick were indeed lovers, and (2) Nick plans to meet up with her very soon so they can continue to have authentic mind-blowing orgasms, and (3) Carver is a lying sack of shit, and (4) he’s about to enter a world of hurt - as in, Kira “pushing” Carver to put his gun in his mouth, and re-painting the cabin décor in shades of crimson, cream, and pink eerily reminiscent of blood, bone, and brain. Yum.
BUT, SERIOUSLY: Kinetic, atmospheric, and exciting, PUSH is a low-demand, high-yield action/thriller that make no bones about what it wants to do - dazzle and entertain. While the idea of people with special abilities is not necessarily an original one, PUSH takes that concept and gives it a spin that feels fresh and compelling. It’s quite a ride getting to know the various “freakazoids” and their powers. Adding to the freshness factor is the setting: Hong Kong is portrayed as a glistening, colorful funhouse that gives flavor to the story in a way that would not have been possible if the story had been set in New York or Los Angeles.
For the most part, the cast does very well. Chris Evans proves here that he’s more than just a face and body, expertly hinting at hidden layers and depths beneath his character’s cool exterior. Watch for the scene at the end where he pleads with Kira that she “knows” him in an effort to hold onto their history together. Unexpectedly touching. Folks, there’s a reason why the producers of CAPTAIN AMERICA tapped him for the lead of Steve Rogers - and it has more to do than just his looks. As Cassie, Dakota Fanning shows the same self-possession and wise-beyond-her-years talent that she has shown in just about anything she’s been in. Here’s hoping she successfully navigates the bridge from child actress to grown-up performer that many have fallen off of in the past. The kid has great things ahead of her, if she plays her cards right. Djimon Hounsou makes a quirky and atypical villain, while Ming-Na Wen, Maggie Siff, Xialu Li, and Cliff Curtis all shine in their small but important roles.
The only weak link in the cast is Camila Belle as Kira. And, unfortunately, this is a pivotal role. While she is beautiful and competent, Ms. Belle never shows us what makes the character so compelling and unforgettable for Nick (besides her beauty, that is - but beautiful women are a dime a dozen for someone who looks like Nick - there has to be something more that haunts him). While Chris Evans effortlessly shows us the soulfulness hidden within his character, Ms. Belle doesn’t come near to matching him. You could argue that this is because Kira is meant to be vague and ambiguous, and because it's not until the end that we realize that their history is indeed factual. But, still, whoever played Kira should have been able to hint at the turmoil and emotional uncertainty under the character’s composure to keep us hooked. Unfortunately, Camilla Belle doesn’t portray that and so we never get a sense of the bond between her character and Nick. Chris Evans pretty much does all the work in their scenes together. Imagine how powerful the bond between Nick and Kira would have been if someone like Rachel McAdams or Olga Kurylenko had been cast in the role - or someone else who could mirror Chris Evans’ intensity. Because of this imbalance in PUSH’s central relationship, the emotional core of the film is a little off.
Still, one has to give credit to PUSH for filling the cast with a large number of female roles, which is unusual for action/thrillers these days, where the male characters outnumber the women significantly. Here, the women have the advantage over the men, number-wise, and not a single one of them are victims - they are all active players in the plot and hold their own against their male counterparts very easily. In this day and age, that shouldn't be revolutionary, but it is - given how most action films usually have one, or perhaps two major female roles.
All in all, PUSH is a worthy and misunderstood effort that I believe will gain a following over time.
