Entertainment, Movies - Army Times

‘Push’ should be shoved ... off your list

Good concept, lousy execution. That’s “Push,” a new sci-fi/action thriller that evokes strong memories of last year’s “Jumper” in its failure to live up to expectations.

The basic idea here is not new — a shadowy government agency known only as “Division” kidnaps kids with paranormal abilities and tries to bioengineer them to be “psychic warriors.” But director Paul McGuigan and writer David Bourla serve up enough early twists to make you hopeful.

Among Division’s targets are Watchers (psychics), Movers (telekinetics) and Pushers (who implant thoughts in others’ heads and make them seem like the truth). Also on hand are Sniffers, Shifters, Shadows, Stitchers, Bleeders and Wipers, along with sportos, motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebs … oh, wait — wrong movie.

Chris Evans, the Human Torch from the “Fantastic Four” films, is Nick, a second-generation Mover living in Hong Kong and trying to stay off Division’s radar.

Nick, who watched his dad die at the hands of Division a decade before, is pulled into a conspiracy by young Cassie Holmes (Dakota Fanning), a second-gen Watcher.

The conspiracy involves a particularly promising Division test subject named Kira (Camilla Belle), a Pusher who has escaped with a briefcase containing a drug that may fulfill Division’s dream of boosting its lab rats’ powers without killing them.

The ruthless Henry Carver (Djimon Hounsou), a powerful Pusher, is leading the Division team in a race against Nick and Cassie to see who can get to Kira and the briefcase first.

It sounds straightforward, but the plot grows more convoluted than a Hong Kong street map.

Kira and Nick were once an item — unless they weren’t. A gang of Asian hoods, aided by a sexy, lollipop-sucking Watcher (Xiao Lu Li), are in the mix for no real reason. Cassie talks often of her mom, who is apparently one of the all-time great paranormals and thus is kept locked away in a Division dungeon. Or something.

There’s not much compensation to be found in the special effects, which are good but come to the fore in only a few scenes, due, no doubt, to budget constraints.

Evans is serviceable but unremarkable as the hunky lead, and the pouty Belle works the same inert B-movie niche that has marked her career to date.

But Fanning shows a maturity far beyond her years — watching her grow up on screen is a treat — and Hounsou is as imposing as ever. They both deserve much better than this.

“Push” has a cool premise and solid (if sparse) effects, but I could watch it 10 times and it still wouldn’t make sense to me.

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READ MORE: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

Rated PG-13 for violence. Got a rant or rave about the movies? E-mail cvinch@atpco.com.