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Push
R1 - America - Summit Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Ethan C. Stevenson (19th September 2009). |
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The Film
 As the credits roll I look over at my friend sitting in the chair opposite mine and sigh. “Well, I don’t know how they did it but they certainly managed to screw that film up.” “Yep,” he responds, “that was almost as bad as the second season of “Heroes” (2006-Present). Unfortunately, that was the beginning of a very long conversation (and not a fabrication of creative license); what followed was a 45 minute discussion on how not only “Push” (the film we just finished watching), but most “comic book” products (not just the real tangible tomes but movies and TV based on them too), eventually, if they run long enough end up as disappointing blobs of awfulness. Even more unfortunate though is that “Push” disappoints before its first act is even over. It’s true that some franchises eventually fall from grace, the “X-Men” films (2000-2006) and the aforementioned “Heroes” television series are easy go to examples, but at least they had good entries that came beforehand. “Push” fails on its first outing and I doubt it will ever get a second chance to redeem itself with a sequel. A film centering on ordinary people with extraordinary psychic abilities seems like a foolproof concept in today’s media centered on super hero mania; Marvel is at the top of it’s game producing so many hits these days that Disney bought them up, one of the top grossing films of all time was about a crazy man in a bat suit and our television screens are filled with images of these “special” characters. Audiences readily accept, dare I say eagerly await, stories that involve people with powers doing amazing things, so it’s somewhat surprising to me that “Push” ultimately failed, not even returning it’s production costs in the US (reportedly the film cost $38 million and grossed just over $31 million domestically) and garnering less than stellar reviews from nearly everywhere (the film has a mere 24% on Rottentomatoes). The later (poor reviews) probably led to the former (poor box office); I know that I decided to wait for this one to hit home video after the bad reviews started to turn up; until that point I was seriously considering seeing “Push” in theaters, the trailer made it look like a taught sci-fi action thriller about people with special abilities and, although I didn’t think it was going to be the greatest thing I’d ever seen, to tell you the truth, I also never expected it to be as bad as it actually is. “Push” is a great concept… on paper. It was just executed terribly on film. As we are informed by a bit of opening narration, the world of “Push” is full of people with psychic abilities. Some people are Watchers (they see the future), some people are Movers (they move things with their mind; they have telekinesis), and still others, called Pushers, get inside peoples heads, creating memories, controlling their actions and thoughts. The last ability is, of course, what the film is titled after. There are various other psychic powers as well; the list is seemingly endless, but it’s too complex to continue on about. (Said complexity is present in just about everything concerning “Push” and it’s both one of the strongest aspects of the film and its main weakness.) Our characters each have one of these abilities; Cassie (Dakota Fanning) is a Watcher, scratching her visions onto the black sheets of her notebook. Nick (Chris Evans) is a Mover, but like most people with abilities in Hong Kong he’s been on the run from Division, an ominous government agency who hunts the special (the twist is that those doing the hunting also have abilities), so long that he’s not nearly as trained in telekinesis as he should be. Finally, we have Kira (Camilla Belle), a woman with a secret, she’s recently escaped from Division’s custody; she’s a Pusher. The three team up to find a briefcase that contains a vile (of who knows what) which they can use to bring Division down. Unfortunately for us, no one knows where the case is or even what it exactly looks like. The cinematic world of “Push”, much like a good comic book (or, really, any work of fiction), is multilayered and seems far more developed than what we are being told. The two or so hours we spend in this world is but a minor glimpse into a much grander plot. You get a sense that what you’ve entered is a full 3D world, realistic and believable and it exists outside the short story you are about to watch. (As I said, “Push” is good concept.) But, the script that we use as a vehicle into this world is a mess. The story is jumbled; characters seemingly disappear and reappear on a whim, and even after watching the film twice, I still don’t fully understand what the hell is going on half the time. Instead of giving us the exciting action film promised in the trailers, we get lots and lots of messy incoherent plots and side plots, and talking and walking and not much “energy.” The movie doesn’t need to be this complex; and truthfully it isn’t as complex as the script nearly thinks it is. The actors are good but the chemistry is all wrong; I think that Evans and Fanning have a stronger connection than Evans and Belle (which isn’t good since the later relationship is supposed to be steeped in years of romantic love). Scribe David Bourla is certainly at fault, it’s his uneven script that’s bringing the film down, but I can’t say I expected anything good to ever come from him (Bourla’s highest rated projects on IMDB are a trio of “Thumbs!” films, "The Godthumb" (2001), "Bat Thumb" (2001) and "Frankenthumb" (2002)). The far more troubling thing however, is that Paul McGuigan, a man who I think has immense talent and produced a truly compelling, extremely complex (but coherent) farce with “Lucky Number Slevin” (2006) and just a plain good film with “Gangster No. 1” (2000) is the one who directed “Push.” How could he not see the numerous, obvious problems with the screenplay he was working with? I think the answer is that he simply didn’t see the problems because he wasn’t looking hard enough (or at all); McGuigan was too involved in shooting a “pretty movie” (and it looks great, see my comments below) to really pay attention to the problematic narrative structure and silly plot contrivances. I imagine he was too busy discussing film stocks with his cinematographer, going over colors and patterns with the set designer and making his movie look nice, to even bother with the script. And it’s unfortunate, because as I’ve said, “Push” has, at it’s center, a good movie inside it somewhere. It’s just too bad no one was able to find it.
Video
Bold. Luscious. Vibrant. Colorful. That basically describes the 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that Summit has created for “Push.” Stunningly beautiful, whatever issues the film has in its narrative (and yes, it is a mess of a script), “Push” is, at least visually, quite a striking feat. One of, if not the most, colorful films outside of the animated realm, coupled with excellent contrast in the form of lean, bright whites and deep, dark blacks, “Push” has heaps of the so-called 3D effect that viewers are so keenly ready to lap up. Detail is on the upswing of sharp, but not overly harsh or electronically altered, and grain is surprisingly finely rendered, at least for DVD. Never intrusive but noticeable, the thin layer grain of reminds one that, yes, this was a movie shot on real film, and not a digital medium that so desperately wishes to be celluloid (see comments in my "Knowing" (2009) review for more). Fine object texturing is suitable for a modern standard definition transfer, if not, quite frankly, surprising. Although it can’t compete with true high definition (even upconverted), this looks, overall, very nice. Sometimes a bit inconsistent with the occasional blown out or overly gritty scene, these moments are intentional, designed that way to express a point and so I cannot fault the transfer for what are ultimately creative decisions that have nothing to do with DVD (said DVD reflects the intentions accurately and that is all I ask). I did notice some slight specks of dirt and debris in a few areas (odd for such a new film that was obviously run through a digital intermediate), but all in all not bad. In fact, “Push” is often quite impressive. This is reference quality standard definition, but the available Blu-ray with 6-times the resolution is likely even better. If you’re HD capable, the 1080p version is without a doubt the superior viewing experience.
Audio
Bombastic and energetic, “Push” again impresses with its top shelf English Dolby Digital 5.1 track. Dialogue is nicely developed and remains strong throughout, while a weighty dynamic range is stable and welcomed, bringing lots of rumbling, supportive bass. The films often-chaotic atmosphere — city exteriors that burst with the hustle and bustle and a busy quality, comes through quite nicely. Surrounds are populated expectedly and help add to the immersive nature of the mix. A good effort on Summits part, the indie distributor once again proves that it can play with the big boys, as they provide a reference mix for DVD. The A/V can't save the film from itself, but this is still a solid experience. A Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 dub and subtitles in English for the hearing impaired and Spanish are also offered.
Extras
Supplements are meager for “Push”, with a weak audio commentary, a featurette, less than 4 minutes of deleted scenes and some bonus trailers. At least Summit Entertainment offers all of the material in 16x9-enhanced widescreen (which looks quite nice for what are essentially spare parts and after thoughts) but the package remains, nonetheless, oh so disappointing. With video based material that has a combined run time of less than 20 minutes and an uninspired commentary, this is a sore offering from any distributor (even an independent newbie like Summit). First up is an audio commentary with director Paul McGuigan and stars Dakota Fanning and Chris Evans. A bit dry to be honest, McGuigan does most of the talking; when either of the actors speak it is usually more light hearted but less informative. Disappointingly, McGuigan still doesn’t realize that the film is deeply flawed. I’ve heard far worse commentaries in my time but this is nothing special, and, like the film this track supplements, it could have been. Next we get a series of 4 deleted scenes. Director Paul McGuigan offers optional audio commentary on the excised sequences. This is not essential viewing by any means; all the material is wisely cut: - Cassie buys alcohol, runs for 32 seconds. - A (quite literally) 4-word conversation, by phone, between Stowe (Maggie Siff) and Popgirl (Xiao Lu Li) that runs 32 seconds. - On the run, Cassie tries to hide from Stowe, runs for 1 minute 11 seconds. - Tied up, Stowe is killed by Popgirl, runs for 52 seconds. The lone featurette on this disc, entitled “The Science Behind the Fiction,” running 9 minutes 17 seconds, has McGuigan and retired Army Colonel Dr. John Alexander talking about the application of psychic abilities in the real world. Interesting, if extremely short. Pre-menu bonus trailers are for: - “Knowing” runs 2 minutes 31 seconds. - “Astro Boy” runs 53 seconds. - “The Brothers Bloom” runs 2 minutes 25 seconds.
Packaging
The single disc DVD is packaged inside an amaray keepcase with a nice embossed slip-cover.
Overall
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