rotten eggs

PUSH ( 2009 )

Nick Gant is a second generation "mover", or telekinetic, who has been on the run from The Division ever since Agent Henry Carver murdered his father. He has sought refuge on the streets of Hong Kong, secreting himself from the "sniffers" who are trained to track down the gifted and bring them back to Division. Nick plans to flee the city when his location is uncovered, only to encounter 13-year-old Cassie, a "watcher" or clairvoyant, who needs his help to overthrow Division and free her mother from imprisonment. The girl needs Nick to find escaped "pusher" Kira, who is able to get inside people's minds and plant false memories. Unfortunately, Carver and his goons are also on Kira's trail.

If all we're heading for are doom, gloom and global catastrophe then why bother planning for tomorrow when we could just live for today? Cast aside gritty, realist dramas and probing documentaries and plug into an endless cycle of cutesy animation and feel-good romantic comedies. Then there would be no place for a film like Push, a suspense thriller set in a grim, foreboding future and penned by David Bourla, in which the most gifted among us are lab rats for a shadowy government agency known as The Division. This covert organisation rounds up psychics for the express purpose of creating an army capable of controlling every thought and event. Those unwilling to participate in this shadowy enterprise are eliminated. Unfortunately, top-secret experiments to boost the powers of the psychic warriors using a genetically engineered serum always result in death.

No one has survived... until now. Nick Gant (Chris Evans) is a second generation "mover", or telekinetic, who has been on the run ever since Division Agent Henry Carver (Djimon Hounsou) murdered his father. He finds refuge on the streets of Hong Kong, hiding from the "sniffers" who are trained to track down his kind and bring them to Division. When his location is compromised, Nick plans to flee the city, only to encounter 13-year-old Cassie (Dakota Fanning), a "watcher" or clairvoyant, who needs his help to retrieve a suitcase containing �6 million. To find the cash, the girl needs Nick to locate escaped "pusher" Kira (Camilla Belle), the only person to live through Division's experiments, who is able to get inside people's minds and plant false memories. Sceptical at first, Nick eventually agrees. "I haven't even gotten to the bad part yet," adds Cassie sombrely, "we die." Unfortunately, Carver and his right-hand man Victor (Neil Jackson) are also on Kira's trail.

Push unfolds through nervous, handheld cameras, which refuse to stay still as Cassie and Nick sacrifice themselves for a greater good. Director Paul McGuigan directs with confidence, including a couple of blistering action sequences like a chase through a market and a showdown on a building site. The script, however, is riddled with unanswered questions and plot holes, such as Cassie's uncanny ability of drawing her dreams to show Nick the way, even when she is running for her life. Fanning is solid without ever being tested in an undemanding lead role, gelling nicely with Evans' buff action hero who concocts the elaborate master plan to save the world without breaking a sweat. Belle brings an ambiguity to her role, while Hounsou obliges with a cardboard cut out villain who wild rather shoot his underlings than jeopardise the mission. If only they were watchers - they might have seen it coming.

GOOD EGG