Push Review and Rental Queue 5

Push Review: C

When trailers first began to play for this movie I was struck by the idea that it may very well be a return visit to the world of Jumper. The key facts looked right: guy with strange powers running from other guys that want to turn him into a weapon/use him for experiments/kill him for fun. The heavy use of special effects and big explosions did little to ease this sense of familiarity. Trepidatious, I was more than a little concerned about this. The world does not need another Jumper.

So, instead of avoiding this possibility at all costs I opted to confront my fears head on and find the truth out for myself.

The good news? Push is handled a lot better than the similar, though not connected in any way, Jumper. So the comparisons between the two will stop before they start. The bad news? It’s not that great, despite being able to stand on its own.

The story focuses on a young man named Nick with the ability to move things with his mind, called a Mover by the dastardly Government organization that stands as the ‘baddies’: the Division. They are comprised of others with phenomenal powers, and apparently spend their time tracking down, spying on, experimenting on, or just killing the gifted folk not in their ranks. When Nick meets Cassie, a young girl with the ability to see glimpses of the ever changing future, the Mover and Watcher team up to save a runaway experiment from Division, and, ultimately, save themselves from the deaths Cassie has seen for them.

First tangent: I’ve recently been watching a lot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so the term ‘Watcher’ is hilarious to me. Distracting at best, I thought Cassie was a bit young to be working for the Watcher’s Council, and distinctly un-British. To amuse myself I imagined Nick was the Slayer of this strange new world, though he seemed to be having an easy go of it considering the extreme lack of vampires to slay. And therein arises the first real problem with this film.

It’s boring.

For an action film there isn’t much action. Okay, I take that back. There are some intense fights, including two epic showdowns between rival Movers. All the floating guns (which sometimes look like plastic toys dangling from fishing wire) and invisible barriers are pretty awesome, but it feels like there could have been a lot more for us to see. Some of the powers were only glimpsed in passing, and some never explained at all save for them being used once or twice. The graphics are okay, but not impressive. The film spends a lot of its time meandering through its plot, the pacing almost grueling whenever there isn’t a power being used.

The story was very interesting, but it felt like something I would rather be reading about. There was so much to it, the near two hour run time was still not enough to explain everything I was getting so invested in. When there is too much information trying to be squeezed into a time slot that just isn’t long enough there is often a very serious side effect: plot holes. And there are plenty here. From story lines that don’t get wrapped up to glaringly painful questions about their battle tactics, as well as difficult to understand limits and uses of the powers themselves: there are a lot of things here that just don’t make sense. Still, to the film’s credit, it is very fun to try and follow, and the story itself is strong enough to justify the price of admission, at the very least.

Chris Evans and Dakota Fanning, Nick and Cassie respectively, do admirably in their roles, though they seem to lack any kind of real chemistry. This is most evident near the end, where they share a soulless, awkward hug that in no way endears itself to the half-riveted audience. There are some cute quips between them, but their relationship never achieves the father/daughter (or maybe older brother/sister) dynamic I think it was searching for. Not even underaged drinking could help that out, though it certainly tried. There were, however, some great secondary players that really supported and even highlighted the main actors. Cliff Curtis and Ming-Na are particularly memorable, the former playing a slick Shifter (someone who can make an object appear to be something else) and the latter offering a subtle performance as a Sniffer (who, not surprisingly, sniffs something and then tracks down whoever’s scent is on it).

There are a lot of very cool things to this film, but it doesn’t build itself in a cohesive way and thus wastes a lot of its potential. So, ultimately, it’s awesome in theory, but the execution fails it. Which is a shame, but doesn’t make it a complete waste of time or money. It also sets up for, in vague terms -as well as annoyingly obvious ones that probably shouldn’t have happened because it left the plot feeling so completely unfinished- a sequel. If enough people catch it as a matinee, or maybe rent it when it’s released, we might get a film that gives the plot some closure.

Which would be nice.




Rental Queue 5

Jumper
Just kidding. Don’t.

The X-Men series
Nothing beats the X-Men when it comes to humans running around with strange, exciting powers. I’ve always loved these films not for the plot or the comic book culture, but for the chance to see humans doing amazing, supernatural, and downright awesome things. A guy can shoot ice from his hands? Awesome. A dude has wings? Awesome. That guy can kill people with his thoughts, and that other guy can bend metal with a flick of his wrist? Yeah. That’s awesome. The movies are good at making watching these powers exciting, and completely enviable. I mean, who hates a mutant? Besides, like, everyone in the movie. Hm.

War of the Worlds
One of my favorite Dakota Fanning roles. This is saying a lot, because I’m not actually a fan of her work. Or any child actor, really. Personal bias aside, I think she shows her stuff in this action film revolving around the end of the world at the hands of people-evaporating alien hordes. The film itself is beautiful, the directing and landscapes just breathtaking, even as giant tri-pod alien robots of death descend upon our hapless world. Tom Cruise is interesting enough, and the crafting of suspense is very engaging.

Runaway Jury
A perfect cast makes this movie a must see. John Cusack, Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman and Rachel Weisz are perfect in their roles, and since one of more of them are in almost every scene, the movie is inescapably entertaining. Plus, Cliff Curtis shows up in the ensemble, and he’s just a pleasure to watch. He is one of those actors, I think, destined to play the second string, and yet do so skillfully, to the point where he nearly steals scenes. He does that in Push, and you can just glimpse it here.

Mulan
Ming-Na is not a stranger to vocal work. She does a lot of voices, and this just happens to be my favorite. She also played a doctor on ER for a number of seasons. What makes Mulan great is how beautiful it is. The story, the characters, the songs, the art itself: it’s a very aesthetic film and appeals to any age group. Which is often true of any Disney animated feature, though lots of people are too proud to admit it. An added voice is Lea Salonga, Mulan’s singing voice. The one true Eponine (Les Miserables) of my heart, she gives Mulan yet another dynamic of beauty through her dulcet tones.

Hancock
It’s difficult to think about humans and crazy powers and not cross the line into Superhero territory. The people in Push are not super heroes, just super people. Even so, it’s difficult to create a new world for them, that hasn’t already been visited in comic books or other films. For Push it’s X-Men and Jumper, among others. And then there’s Hancock. A rather surprisingly stand alone look at a brand new Superhero, his origins, and his path. It’s a very fun film, though some times the graphics can’t keep up with the insane action, and a great example of a modern, individual superhero.