Push

A push is something you can do to someone with your psychic powers.

This is one of those films which begin “ten years ago”. A desperate father, just before “they” come to hunt him down, tells his young son, Nick, that one day he will meet a girl who will give him a flower…

Over the opening credits we learn that it all began in 1945 when the Nazis started to breed people with psychic powers. Other nations continued the experiment, and now there are people around the world who are special. Some of them are “Sniffers” who can trace people by sniffing their possessions. (eg I could have been traced to the cinema this morning.) Some are “Movers” with telekinetic powers. ( I needn’t have taken that bus.) And, most importantly, there are “Watchers” who can see into the future. (A Watcher could have told me it would all end in tears.)

Some of these people are harmless individuals trying to make a living with their special powers and others are baddies, some of whom belong to “Divisions” created to hunt down the others and take them to labs, where they pump them full of drugs and/or kill them.

The grown up Nick (Chris Evans) is a Mover, seen practising his skills at gambling in Hong Kong. He is found by Sniffers, but manages not to get killed at this point. Then Cassie (Dakota Fanning) arrives at his flat with a flower. (Yes.) She spins him a yarn about finding a suitcase with six million dollars. But then it starts to get complicated. She is actually a 13-year-old Watcher whose mother is imprisoned in one of the labs. Because she is a Watcher, she knows that her mother is still alive and that if she can only find the shiny bead it will lead her to the suitcase, which contains something that will free her mother. She carries a sketchbook in which she draws the things she sees, including her own death.

Both Nick and Cassie are second generation psychics. (Surely third generation by now?) This means that their powers are not perfect – an idea which isn’t really carried through. Another important character is Kira (Camille Belle), who has the ability to mess with memory. When she and Nick meet, they already know each other from happier times. Or do they?

One of the good things (of few) about this film is its use of location. Hong Kong is a place where new buildings seem to appear overnight and this is an element of the plot, as is the bamboo scaffolding which is used for even the tallest buildings. The harbours and markets make good hunting grounds, and tight camera shots make this look more exotic than it really is.

But there’s far too much pushing going on here and the plot never gets a chance to stand up. Sometimes there’s a glimpse of the much better film this could have been. The idea of implanting false memories has been dealt with far more creatively in films like Blade Runner, but is still the most intriguing part of the film - who’s pushing whom? Camille Belle does manage to convey some ambiguity as Kira, but the other characters are two-dimensional. After this and The Secret Life Of Bees, Dakota really needs to get out more. It’s disappointing to see her in roles like this where all she has to do is let the tears roll down those cheeks. Come on, Dakota. You’re not seven any more.

Instead of going for the more interesting option, this settles for being a “things exploding” movie. You feel cheated when, in every fight scene, someone turns up with a new psychic power. Being unbreakable just doesn’t seem fair. Getting mended is such a steal from Heroes and killing people by shouting at them is just annoying.

Altogether a case of “More is less”.