Push (2009) | Sci-Fi Saturdays

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Pull yourself into a world of super-powered individuals.

The sci-fi film Push enters the realm of superheroes which was a popular topic in the late aughts. It successfully creates a mashup of several popular genres, but in doing so loses track of the plot of the film, even though the premise is still very fun.

First Impressions

This trailer introduces audiences to people with powerful telekinetic abilities. They’re like the X-Men, but not trademarked. These people are on the run from an evil government group called Division that wants to arrest and/or kill them. Definitely, people you won’t want to Push.

Presented below is the trailer for the film.

The Fiction of The Film

A voiceover informs audiences that there are people born with abilities that make them special. Just before a group of government agents from Division attack, a father (Joel Gretsch) tells his young son Nick (Colin Ford) that he needs to help a girl who gives him a flower. Nick escapes and his father is killed by one agent, Henry Carver (Djimon Hounsou). Ten years later in Hong Kong a young woman with special powers, Kira (Camilla Belle), is injected by Division doctors with a new drug designed to enhance the person’s abilities. Kira appears to die, but then awakens and escapes from the facility with the help of a small, glass marble that holds a door open a few seconds longer. Nick (Chris Evans), now an adult, uses his abilities as a Mover to influence a craps game, but is not subtle and gets chased off.

Thirteen-year-old Cassie (Dakota Fanning), a Watcher, shows up at Nick’s apartment just after he is visited by a couple of Division Agents looking for a woman, who Nick says he knows nothing about. Cassie says that she sees the future and that this woman has a briefcase with money. Nick is interested and decides to help, not realizing that the woman is Kira, his ex-girlfriend. Members of a Hong Kong Triad attack the two using Bleeders (sonic screamers) to shatter windows and wound Nick. Cassie runs and hides. Later she finds the wounded Nick and calls in Stitcher Teresa (Maggie Siff), a healer, to fix the man. Cassie gives Nick a lotus blossom when he awakens and he realizes she is the one his father told him to help.

Cassie tells Nick that her mother, the strongest Watcher ever, was captured and is being held by Division. She has put plans in place to help Kira escape (Cassie’s mom was the one who released the marble in the facility) and to bring down the agency. Kira has stolen a syringe of the drug used on her but has amnesia. She is confronted by the same two Division Sniffers who visited Nick. These two men, Mack and Holden (Corey Stoll and Scott Michael Campbell), are able to “sniff” objects to get psychic impressions of where people have been. Kira uses her power to Push an image into Agent Mack’s head so that he kills his partner as she escapes. When Carver meets with Mack later, he also Pushes another idea into the man’s head, so Mack commits suicide for his failure.

Cassie and Nick track down Kira using help from Shifter Hook Waters (Cliff Curtis) and Sniffer Emily Wu (Ming-Na Wen). Realizing that Kira must have used a Wiper to erase her memories, Nick hires Pinky (Nate Mooney), a Shadow who can make Kira invisible to Sniffers in order to protect her. Kira is getting sick from the injection and needs help. Nick confronts Carver and his partner, Victor (Neil Jackson), in a restaurant, but his lack of training nearly gets him killed. They discover the syringe is hidden in a building in downtown Hong Kong that is being Shadowed so no Watcher can see it. Nick believes the only way to beat the Division and Triad Watchers looking for them is to provide instructions to his friends in letters and then wipe his memory–so no one knows in advance what they’re supposed to do.

Hook creates a duplicate-looking case with a fake syringe inside to throw off the Triad following them. Teresa returns, now working for Division, and uses her powers to cripple Nick, stealing the decoy case. Meanwhile, Kira is returned to Division to get treatment for her symptoms. Carver shows her an ID that indicates she is a Division agent and enlists her to help capture Nick. Cassie attempts to get lost in the subway system only to be found by Pop Girl (Xiaolu Li), the Triad Watcher. But it’s a trap and Cassie uses the same Wiper used by Nick to erase her memory. At the locker in the hidden building, Carver, Victor, and Kira go for the case but are ambushed by the Triad. Victor uses his Mover powers to deflect bullets and throw Triad members around but is eventually defeated by Nick.

Kira tells Nick that they were never boyfriend and girlfriend, and never had a date at Coney Island. She claims it was all a story she Pushed into his head. Nick injects himself with the syringe to try to magnify his powers but dies. Kira was the only person to survive the injections. Cassie shows up and reveals that Nick is not really dead. He injected himself with another fake syringe. Cassie has the real case, which they plan to trade to Division for Cassie’s mom. On a private plane, Kira wonders about Nick and opens the letter he gave her. It’s a picture of the two of them in front of the Cyclone at Coney Island. His handwritten note says “Kill him. See u soon. Love Nick.” As the screen turns black, the final words are from Kira: “Put your gun in your mouth. Pull the trigger.”

“Right now, the future I see doesn’t look so great. The good news is, the future is always changing, in the largest of ways, by the smallest of things.” – Cassie

History in the Making

Push was another early 21st-century film that dealt with superheroes without being based on a comic book or existing superhero franchise. Like Jumper and Hancock from the previous year, Push tells of individuals with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. But unlike Jumper specifically, it offers characters with multiple types of powers, along with its MacGuffin-like mystery, shadowy government agency, and exotic locale. Because of the variety of powers for the characters, Push works better than most of the other neo-superhero-action-dramas. However, it really feels like a mashup of a number of other popular television and film ideas of the era.

In the presentation of normal humans with an extra gift of powers, comparisons are often drawn to the X-Men. This team of mutant superheroes consists of varied individuals each with some genetic abnormality giving them superpowers. They have gifts like telepathy, weather manipulation, teleportation, or optic blasts. In the world of the film, people with these powers have always been around, but during World War II experiments from Nazi scientists attempted to enhance powered individuals, which led to the world of the film as other governmental agencies (Divisions) attempt to control these powers for themselves. It’s reminiscent of two separate television series from the early 2000s: Heroes and Alias. Heroes, which ran from 2006 to 2010, with a 13-episode continuation called Heroes Reborn in 2015, told of normal people who received powers following a solar eclipse. Each character had a different power and many would eventually work together creating a super team. Alias, airing from 2001 to 2006, was a spy/thriller show dealing with shadowy government organizations vying for control using espionage and technological gadgets. Push also has elements of Ocean’s Eleven, a heist film, where the audience is kept in the dark about the actual plan. This film tells audiences what characters need to retrieve the briefcase with the syringe inside (the MacGuffin that drives all the characters to the final showdown), but not the specifics of the plan due to Nick getting his memory erased. This allows the actual elements of the robbery to unfold in creative ways and surprise the audience.

As with Jumper, which provided a lot of setup without any type of resolution, Push falls into the same trap. While this film creates a much better mix of powers and action sequences, the ending is lackluster. The goal for the retrieval of the briefcase changes throughout the film. First, it was a case with money inside, but that was only Cassie’s story to hook Nick. Then it was the retrieval of the syringe to prevent Division from hurting more people like Kira. Eventually the goal at the end of the film, the goal as described by Cassie was to trade the case for her mother, who was being held by Division. But that’s where the film ends, presumably setting up another, potential sequel. The main objective of the film is completed with the retrieval of the case, but its importance changes towards the end of the film, becoming another link in a chain. Audiences are not even allowed to witness the retribution of Kira on Carver, instead having the screen fade to black as she issues a power-laden command to pull the trigger on his gun. A sound effect indicates he did, but as anyone who reads superhero comics knows, without seeing a body (and sometimes even seeing one) it doesn’t indicate that the character is dead. It gives Push the adrenaline rush of an action film, but falters at the finish line, leaving audiences missing the last moments.

Genre-fication

As a genre film, Push gives off heavy vibes of espionage thrillers. Much of the information about what is going on in the film is hidden from the audience until discovered by the characters. After a flashback opening and an info dump of narration, things ease up a bit with scenes of Nick living his life in Hong Kong. The audience is shown Kira getting injected with the serum and then escaping from the Division labs with the help of an unseen accomplice–which eventually turns out to be Cassie’s mom. But without any context at this point, it only really seems to make sense on a rewatch of the film. The main characters are being hunted by the bad guys and so must stay hidden, or at least one step ahead, as they try to unravel the mystery before Division does. When it comes to the sequence with the Ocean’s Eleven-style heist, the plan is purposefully withheld from the audience for suspense purposes, setting up a number of twists and turns that not even the characters know, since knowing in advance would give them away to any nearby Watcher. Another element of the espionage film is the MacGuffin of the suitcase with the syringe inside. A MacGuffin is a term popularized by Alfred Hitchcock and refers to a plot device that puts the character’s story into motion but its final reveal may be unimportant to the overall context of the film. The bird statue from The Maltese Falcon is a common example, as are the stolen data tapes from Star Wars and the suitcase of money stolen by Marion Crane in Psycho.

From a science-fiction aspect, it incorporates the decades-long trope of scientists playing God and attempting to enhance individuals via chemistry. Whether it’s individuals like Griffin in The Invisible Man attempting to make people invisible, or the eugenic enhancements of Gattaca, Push involves advanced scientific techniques in order to better individuals. Granted it’s enhancing individuals that are already enhanced, so it’s really about making a better super-soldier at this point. From there it follows a lot of the same markers from superhero films as mentioned above, but in a style that is not as influenced by comic books as most films of that type. All of the “technology” seen in the film is related to the enhanced powers of the characters, and not some kind of super technology or artificial intelligence. So in this way, it doesn’t seem as futuristic as most sci-films reviewed in this series. It ends up being a modern-day drama in an alternate world where characters are able to evolve with superpowers instead of advanced technology.

Societal Commentary

On the surface, Push is about characters wanting to live their own lives, free from the meddling and oversight of a government organization. These powered individuals are hunted by people just like them, who work for an agency that wants to control that power for its own use. What makes people like Carver or Mack want to become tools for Division? It seemingly has to do with power or control. Who would want to be the hunted, when they can give up certain aspects of their lives in exchange for becoming the hunter? Perhaps it fills some sadistic idea or needs to belittle and kill others that attracts sociopathic types of people since there appears to be no grey area with Division. The organization is fully painted as the Bad Guys. But powered individuals on the outside, like Cassie and Nick–especially Nick, just want to go on with living their own lives and not bother anyone.

The film also deals with the mysteries of memory. Kira chooses to give up a broad portion of her memories in order to remain safe. That includes giving up her time spent with Nick. This becomes a wedge used by Carver to trick her into believing (with or without a Push from his powers–that’s not entirely clear) that she is a member of Division. Basically, someone who had decided to sell out their friends for money and opportunity. This is not who Kira thinks she is, but being unable to recall specifics, she is forced to believe the evidence presented to her. Luckily, Nick has a piece of evidence of his own that he uses to turn her back when she “starts to doubt the truth.”

Push also has a thing or two to say about predestination and free will. Based on dialogue and supposition by Cassie, her mother has been planning this takedown of Division since before she was born. This unnamed mother has seen everything that will happen in over 13 years, and how all these characters will play a part. This is amazing, considering Cassie talks about how the future can change just by talking about it. Cassie’s mom was able to share information with Nick’s dad (about trusting a girl with a flower) and Wo Chiang (who recognizes Nick) as well as set events in motion to allow Kira to escape from Division. Her powers apparently are able to look beyond the small eddies and currents that foul up predictions from Pop Girl and Cassie, allowing her to see a much bigger picture. It also appears that even though smaller things might change, there is a future that is set–set enough that someone can read it and make plans based on it. In that way, no characters in the film have free will, regardless of how random their actions may be.

The Science in The Fiction

No background is given regarding the origin of the powers belonging to the characters. They are just born that way. They are mutants essentially. All powered people have developed a new ability for some reason. Their powers also appear to be genetically predisposed, since both Nick and his Dad are Movers, while Cassie and her Mom are Watchers. From the standpoint of a story, it’s a nice varied set of powers that all complement and play off each other. Some are necessary for plot elements in the film, such as the Stitch healer who can hurt or heal, and the Wiper who can vacuum various amounts of memory from someone’s head based on a time range, but most of the powers are just cool. Who wouldn’t want to be able to push things around with their mind, or be able to get a reading off an object about who used it or where they were?

Most of these types of powers are based on power sets seen in comic books. The Movers use a form of telekinesis, which is the ability to use the mind to influence physical objects in the world. Pushers have a more subtle psychic link using telepathy to influence the minds of others. In other stories, these powers are usually rolled together into characters with psychic powers. They usually have a whole gamut of mental abilities. Watchers are also a common powerset in stories. These are people who have a psychic ability to see the future, like the trio in Minority Report. The remaining skills are ones that are much less common, but interesting to see that the filmmakers thought about other, varied powers than just three or four to give to all the characters.

The Sniffers have the ability of psychometry, which is often seen with characters that practice mentalism or fortune telling. It allows a character to read the afterimage of people on objects, sort of ‘sniffing’ them out as a bloodhound might do with a scrap of clothing. The Bleeders, Shifters, and Shadows all are relatively unique, at least in the world of film. Comic books definitely have characters with similar powers, thus revealing a major influence. The Bleeders by name are not completely obvious and sound like they may have powers more akin to the Stitch. The name comes from their sonic screams causing internal organs to bleed and bones to break. Somehow, ruptured eardrums don’t happen with these guys. The Shifters also have a power that seemingly could be confused with Pushers. When Hook makes the card appear for the woman at the club, it seems like he’s just Pushing the card she expects into her head. However, later he’s seen actually transmuting objects from one type/color into another. These illusions only last for a while, but work on characters that were not there for the original transformation, so it doesn’t seem to be a psychic effect. Finally, the Shadows have a really cool power set. They are able to interfere with Watchers, allowing a powered individual to become invisible. Kind of like a radar jammer or some kind of opaque glass for people with powers to hide behind.

The Final Frontier

As superhero films grew in popularity for Marvel and DC Comics during the end of the 20-aughts, these other types of pseudo-superhero films waned. They didn’t disappear entirely but definitely have entered cryostasis until the franchised superhero films die down. Of all the comic book-style films about people with powers, Push is still a strong contender. It had some great ideas and power sets and had an intriguing story that unfortunately ends just as things are getting interesting. As with other films of this type, it feels like it was trying to set up a sequel or potential franchise, but never returned to finish the job.

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