Push - not Heroes...

Introduction

After the end of World War II, intelligence services pilfered the research of Nazi scientists and started experiments in psychic abilities with the intention of creating armies of super soldiers. In order to control the results of these experiments, secret organisations were formed called Divisions. The US version of the Division not only conducted experiments but also hunted down rogue psychics, people with abilities who just wanted to live out their lives in freedom.

Nick Gant (Chris Evans) is one such rogue psychic who managed to escape the attentions of the Division and sinister head honcho Henry Carver (Djimon Hounsou) when his father sacrificed his life in order to protect his son. A decade on, Nick is hiding in Hong Kong and attempting to utilise his ability as a telekinetic, or mover, to make money albeit rather unsuccessfully. After being traced by a couple of minor sniffers from the Division, Nick is contacted by Cassie (Dakota Fanning). Cassie is a 13 year old watcher, someone who can catch glimpses of the future, and tries to persuade Nick to help her find a suitcase worth $6 million that would solve his financial problems.

In order to find the elusive suitcase, Nick and Cassie must trace an escaped pusher called Kira (Camilla Belle) who was involved with Nick sometime in the past. Kira has the ability as a pusher to implant thoughts or false memories into the heads of others and therefore influence their actions. Kira escaped from the Division's secret headquarters with the help of Cassie's long imprisoned mother, a mover. But hot on their trail are Division head Carver (a pusher himself) and his mover sidekick Victor Budarin (Neil Jackson).

As if that wasn't dangerous enough, the duo must also find a way to defeat the Asian family of rogue psychics who are being guided by the lollipop sucking Pop-girl (Lu Lu). Two brothers within the tight knit and ruthless family are screamers, psychics who unleash a vast amount of power by, wait for it, screaming and kill opponents as the extremely high-pitched screaming causes internal organs to vibrate until they bleed.

With other powers to contend with such as shadows who can hide objects and shifters who can temporarily change the appearance of objects, Nick and Cassie have their work cut out...

Picture

The cinematography is superb, utilising the colourful palette of Hong Kong to brilliant effect. The picture on this bluray disc is pin sharp as you would expect and looks fantastic whether location shots or fx. The whole film was shot on hand held and gives the story room to breathe.

Extras

Deleted Scenes - four scenes that can be run individually or together with the option of director's commentary or not. None really stand out as anything other than superfluous to the finished article.

The Science Behind The Fiction - featurette with an ex-US Government official with military experience who states that not only did the military experiment in psychic abilities but that he has the ability to put any thought into your head, not quite sure I believe him despite the inclusion of his credentials at the end.

Audio commentary with director Paul McGuigan, Dakota Fanning and Chris Evans - McGuigan does most of the talking and explaining with comments thrown in more by Evans than Fanning, although we should give her some latitude due to her age. McGuigan does his best to bring in the two stars by asking questions of both of them, although only Evans really gives detailed answers.

Overall

Ordinary people who develop extraordinary powers, chasing by an all-powerful secret organisation who are staffed by other people with extraordinary powers. Sound familiar? Yep, this is stepping into Heroes territory in a big way, but it doesn't appear to be a Heroes ripoff in any way. When I first saw the PR blurb for this film, I was reminded of the lamentable Jumper but luckily this was in no way as bad as that pile of pap.

I really enjoyed this film and that was due to a number of factors. The cast were really good, and this includes Fanning who I thought was a little awkward in places but overall helped to carry the film with both Chris Evans and Djimon Hounson. The cinematography was also great and the use of Hong Kong as the setting was a stroke of genius. What's better is that all the location shots were with live crowds rather than extras, the actors just dropped into the middle of the location with cameras on them and acted as the crowds moved around them. Bizarrely it seems as if either the Hong Kong population have seen it all or just don't care as they don't react to anything the actors do.

Rather good overall...