Push (2009/Summit
Blu-ray/DVD)
Picture:
B/C+ Sound: B+/B- Extras: D Film: D
In a
desperate effort to have another commercial genre hit of any kind like Twilight, Summit has made Push (2009), a new film by the always
awkward director Paul McGuigan (Wicker
Park, Lucky Number Sleven) back
with his worst film yet. So what is
wrong? Well, you have a film about a guy
with problems (Chris Evans of Danny Boyle’s Sunshine and the Fantastic
Four films) who also has some telekinetic abilities (can move objects with
the power of his mind) who soon discovers (all of the sudden) that a whole
secret world has developed unbeknownst to the rest of the world.
Soon, he
is in a battle of good and evil involving these powers and lands up teaming up
with the good side to stop a catastrophe a world away in Hong Kong. Though Djimon Hounsou and Camilla Belle are a
plus here, Dakota Fanning is back to chew up more scenery and overact more
sloppily than ever before and for her, that is an achievement.
When you
take her ruining endless scenes and add the fact that the film does not know if
it is a thriller, telekinetic thriller (Brian De Palma’s The Fury has nothing to worry about), or even a superhero genre
film (it plays like that in look and function more often than not), you land up
with a mess that tires to appeal to everyone (especially a young audience
perceived as dumb, fickle and shallow) and a film that rightly was a dud in
theaters.
Even if
Fanning was recast, that could not save the film from its pandering feel and it
becomes as desperate as Evans having a mustache in case we somehow confuse this
with his better films. Too bad, because
the idea could have worked, but the world is more like a geekfest than any real
life situation of any credibility possible.
Oh, and we get another valuable briefcase everyone wants, a MacGuffin
(writer David Bourla did not get that one either) that does no generate one
ounce of suspense.
All that
telekinesis and the makers could not concentrate and make the film work.
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image was shot in Super 35mm film format and
has some good (and manipulated) color, but still has it definition limits,
which are more pronounced on the passable, anamorphically enhanced DVD. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless
sound on the Blu-ray is more impressive than expected with some aggressive
surrounds and decent soundfield, though some sound effects sound to phony and
digital. The Dolby Digital 5.1 option in
both formats also have some good surrounds, but cannot compete against the
richness, fullness and impact of the DTS.
Extras include a making of featurettes, deleted scenes that were rightly
cut and an audio commentary by the cast and crew.
- Nicholas Sheffo
