Push

...it can make your enjoyment of a movie much greater or lesser than the actual quality of the movie might deserve. So it is here, where the expectations we have of "sci-fi movie about people with mental powers", have over the years become pretty low, fair or not. Usually the best I hope for is maybe a clever dilemma or psych-power solution to something, some decent characters and competent cinematography and acting. Not great, but competent all around. This movie then, when it shines in so many areas-cast, performances, rules for the powers, near-future extrapolation, SEEMS to be really great...when it's just really good. Criticisms could be the ending seems to have been set up for a sequel...didn't ruin it, could have been better. The powers were set up in a little too much of a rock/paper/scissors stack (This power counters that, but that counters this other one, unless you've got this other power too, etc). But neither of those issues take much away from the strong characters, the exceptional Evans/Fanning relationship which by all rights could have been a complete disaster, a plot that progresses so that it starts out simple to apprehend, and is still comprehensible even when it gets complicated later on. And when you've got "future seers" involved, there can definitely be some complications. On a pure cinema level, maybe 4 stars. Maybe 3.78. But I'm thinking, if you're considering this movie, you already like sci-fi, and this will exceed so much of what gets produced in the genre, by such a margin...gotta go with a full recommend. Enjoy.

Before I get into the reasons I gave this movie a 5 star, I think a lot of people, myself included, expected something completely different. That I blame on the trailer for this movie, which shows a lot of action scenes and powers being used. I expected a lot more of the pushing type of power and mind control use over people. It didn't matter to me that those were few and far between but for people looking for action, I don't think it would fit. Being based in Hong Kong, I'm surprised there wasn't more of a variety of scenery. Maybe it's been too long since I saw it, but it seemed to revolve around a Hong Kong market, every place they ran looked the same. But the main reason I still loved it was how amazing Dakota Fanning was. Most child stars get into an awkward phase and either come back later on or stay on the 'I was a child actor' list. But between this movie, and two other recent ones, "Hounddog" and "The Secret Life of Bees",the difference in characters Dakota has played and how well she played them,proves she will not be going away anytime soon. I was extremely impressed with her performance and her relationship with Chris Evans was very realistic. Chris Evans is a favorite actor of mine too. When the end came, I was waiting for more but hopefully if it does well when it's released on dvd, there will be a following movie. So basically, the 5 stars are for the actors. It still was a good movie, just not as the trailer made it seem. In my opinion,anyone who likes movies based on comic books or video games would enjoy this movie much more than people who don't.

I believe this was translated to the screen from a graphic novel, at least that's what it seems to me. This man was so beautiful, and I think the strain of my occultic sickness sickness wore him down. This is a concept where witchcraft abilities are portrayed as gifts for hire. Also the government terrorizing specific people for these abilities. Some of these abilities are nothing more than severe demonic possession. You all need to be aware of this. The push concept is real, but facilitated by demonic possession. TELEVISION IS the ultimate 'PUSHER'. It was a neat look into the underground of an Asian country also. Like a trip without a passport. These countries needed Jesus.

An EXCELLENT, Fast-paced tale of a special minority amongst mankind who have special abilities ranging from telekinetics, seeing into the future and much more of the supernatural without any of the stereotypical religious guidelines... Thank the goddess! A great storyline which is explained from the moment it begins and finally rolls into a competition between our heroes who have to outsmart the bad guys... with LOTS of cool effects which are seamless and keep things moving in an ever more complicated plot until we reach the final showdown and then a great wrapup to the last minute... Dakota Fanning, Chris Evan, Camille Belle and the big bad guy Djimon Hounsou! It's a race to see who will outsmart who and the powers our characters wield are only a great part of the story! This is a MUST SEE for fans of "supernatural" powers and a movie that doesn't stop from the beginning to the very end! Don't miss it!!

This film is not for everyone, but for me it had a lot of components that made it one of the most amazing films. I love that it was set in China, as I have been studying quite a bit about China in college, including their language. I also liked that their individual powers reminded me of a novel I had been working on in the past. Another factor was the soundtrack, which I absolutely loved. The most important thing in this film was the seriousness, because I absolutely hate films that make a joke of things (comedies are my least favorite genre, next to country-western themes). I have this film on BluRay, and recently purchased it on iTunes as well, so that I could watch it while traveling. This story of the movie was written well, with the plot leading up to a climax where events unfold quickly and separate characters become interestingly intertwined. I highly recommend watching this film.

After renting the other movie with the same title by mistake I finally got to see this movie and loved it -- adding it to my collection of Fanning sisters' movies. I am always amazed how fanning sisters can take a challenging role and make it work. dakota fanning plays a sassy 13 year old teenager Cassie (who can pass as a 14 year old teenager)who has inherited her mothers gift of seeing the future (a watcher). One of many super paranormal gifted fugitives who form a network to fight back against a dark organization called Division. Division, led by Carver (Djimon Hounsou) another powerful pusher wants to use them to take over the world. Aided by a mover Nick (Chris Evans) they work together as a team to gain control of a drug that boosts their abilities and 6 million dollars and save Cassie's mother Kira (Camilla Bella) life who is also a powerful Pusher. Other super psychics join in to help in the cause to take down Division. To complicate matters a Chinese syndicate is also after the drug filled syringe. For those of you who have been to Hong Kong as I have you will love the street scenes of the Chinese merchants, boats and restaurants. The mission is accomplished through ingenious planning by Nick who fools the Chinese watcher with unpredictable decisions and another pusher who can make objects change appearances, a Chinese boatman who can make a person's memory disappear and another psychic who can block sniffers from detecting our heroes

I remember seeing the previews for this years ago and thinking, "That movie will either suck, or be amazing." I finally bought the Blu-Ray when it was on sale recently, and I've gotta say, I think they pulled this story off well. Aside from a couple action movie cliches, the storytelling was really captivating. There was a point when I really thought, "My God! There's no way for anyone to win! How can anyone win!?" I thought that Chris Evans and Dakota Fanning worked together splendidly in this film. Camilla Belle was pretty, but unremarkable overall. The writers/directors made a great choice by opening the film in such a way that you really have no idea what's going on. They introduced plot points, characters, and concepts really cleverly throughout the film. Everything that didn't make sense at the beginning paints a wonderful picture by the end; confusing expository voice overs at the beginning lay a solid enough foundation to keep you engaged, but still wondering what it all means. By the end, I promise you'll be surprised by the turns this story takes. Really, really clever film and IMHO severely underrated. Is it perfect? No. But it is a fun adventure with interesting concepts and themes, and most of the cast was pretty solid.

Push is a fantastic, underappreciated movie which truly deserved at least one sequel. Dakota Fanning and Chris Evans were awesome here, as were the rest of the cast. The story was engaging, the soundtrack was sublime, the setting was quite fascinating—I can't really find a major fault in this film at all. Quite entertaining, and well worth a look for anyone who likes super heroes, paranormal activity, action/adventure, or basically, stories full of heart. (The scene near the end between Cassie and Nick—"You are a HORRIBLE artist!"—will make you well up.) Okay, not for everyone, I'm sure, but I loved this movie.