DVD REVIEW: PUSH

Out now on DVD and Blu-ray
Icon Home Entertainment

One could describe Push as a poor man's X-Men and that's certainly true in terms of budget. But the film's storyline, where certain people in the not-too-distant future have developed powers – telekinesis, clairvoyance, mind control – and are hunted down by a secret government agency, the Division, plays more like TV's Heroes but again, without the bucks to make it soar.

Nick Grant (Chris Evans), who has the power to move things with his mind, is hiding out in Hong Kong; his fear of the Division no doubt a result of his father's murder. But Nick is tracked down by young clairvoyant Cassie (Dakota Fanning), who needs his help in locating a briefcase containing $6 milllion. Standing in their way, Division's Agent Carver (Djimon Hounsou, who finally gets to breakout of the saintly black man typecasting and go bad).

I can't remember exactly why Nick and Cassie need the loot, other than the obvious, but then a lot of Push doesn't make sense. When I attended the media screening prior to its cinema release last year, the projectionist accidentally put the third and final reel on before the second, and you know what? It really didn't matter.

I'd suggest the lack of budget kept director Paul McGuigan from mounting a more impressive “superhero” action film but it's the screenplay by David Bourla that's the film's real kryptonite. A film like Push needs to have it's own internal logic in order to succeed and that's one power it sorely lacks.