Push: tolerable or in Malay-speak, LAYANNNNN!

the Poster:

the Trailer:


the Plot:
People with psychic abilities have been involved with the United States government since 1945. Two "Movers", Nick and his father (Joel Gretsch), are running from the "Division". Nick's father tells him of a vision he received from a "Watcher"; a girl will give him a flower and he must help her in order to help all the people with powers. Nick's father hides him as Agent Carver of the Division arrives. Nick's father is killed.

Ten years later, the American Division tests a power boosting drug on a "Pusher" (someone who can implant thoughts in others' minds) named Kira (Camilla Belle). Someone drops a clear ball that gets stuck in a door. Rendering the doctor unconscious, Kira steals his security clearance card and an augmentation drug-filled syringe before escaping through the same door. She later woke up in a barge with an old Chinese guy. she hardly remembers much but her mirror was written with her lipstick, in her handwriting "4100 Nick". it turns out she is in Hong Kong.

Also in Hong Kong, Nick (Chris Evans) is hiding as an expatriate. A young girl, Cassie (Dakota Fanning), arrives at Nick's apartment, explaining that she is a Watcher and that they are going to find a case containing six million dollars.

They go out for a grub at the nearby fish market, only to be discovered by the Pop Triads whose members are Bleeders bent on having that Case too.

However, the daughter of  the Pop Triad leader who is a Watcher informs her brothers not to kill Nick yet as he hasn't found the Girl with the case. should they kill him, the Girl with the Case won't be able to be detected.

Cassie escapes the Bleeders attack and using her visions, she finds Nick passed out in pain at a local place.

She is joined by Teresa Stowe (Maggie Siff), a  Stitch who then heals Nick due to the request made by Cassie's mother.

as Nick recovers, Cassie hands him a tulip and from thereon, Nick trusts Cassie completely.

Following Cassie's predictions, they go to a nightclub. Nick sees an old friend, Hook (Cliff Curtis), who is a "Shifter".

He tells them to go to Emily (Ming-Na Wen), a "Sniff" who can help them find the girl with the Case.

with Emily's info, Nick and Cassie find the Girl with the case, who turns out to be Kira. Kira grows ballistic upon sighting him and starts to open fire before ceasing. It was later explained that she once had a romantic relationship with Nick before she's caught and subjected to Division's tests.

In order to escape Division's detection, they recruit a "Shadow" named Pinky (Nate Mooney) to hide Kira from the Sniffs.

Cassie finds a key in her shoe to a locker in which Kira hid a case. With the aid of Cassie's visions, they piece together the events that led them to meet; Cassie's mother used her visions to set a complex plan in motion that will destroy the Division (her mother dropped the clear ball at the start of the movie, as a Watcher, she knew what would happen). They also are able to pinpoint the place where Kira has earlier hid the Case with the Syringe.

Nick then devises a plan that involves seven envelopes in which he places instructions; each person in the group is entrusted with one envelope before they split. As Kira is getting sicklier, they agree that Pinky should bring her to get the cure from Carver who earlier warns Nick that she's sick and needs cure that only him, Carver, can give.

Nick then uses the help of Wo Chiang (Paul Car), the "Wiper" to erase his memories of the plan so that the Pop Girl (Xiao Lu Li) doesn't have enough clue of their plans.

Hook retrieves the case, which has the syringe Kira stole, and brings it to Cassie. Hook shifts another case to match the case with the syringe. Cassie takes the shifted case to Nick's apartment and waits. Nick regains consciousness: he has no memory of the envelopes or his plan. He opens his envelope, which tells him to return home. He finds the case in his room but is set upon by Teresa who is hired by the Pop Triads to get the Case from Nick. the Pop brothers arrive and take the Case to their father. As they left, Nick regains his control back to restrain Teresa with the help of Cassie.

At the Pop Triads headquarters, it is found out that the Case is shifted by Hook earlier and is not the real Case. Having a vision, the Pop Girl informs her brothers that the Case is at the new building in construction somewhere.

Carver introduces himself to Kira as a friend, stating that her memories are false; she is a Division agent who volunteered to take the augmentation injection and suffered amnesia. Carver shows Kira her badge and gave her the cure.

Before saying goodbye, Nick assures a worried Cassie that she will survive and everything is going to be fine. She wanders around as Nick has told her only to find herself going into an apartment where the Tiger emblem is on the boxes. Pop Girl has earlier warns Cassie of seeing the tiger as her sign of death. True enough as Cassie turns her back, Pop Girl who is tracking her all this while has a gun trained on Cassie's head. At the last moment, the Wiper appears and erases her memory, saving Cassie.

Nick goes to retrieve the augmentation drug and confronts Carver and Kira. Carver tells Kira and Nick that their relationship never happened; it was a "push" memory. Kira reveals she has been using Nick and Nick takes the three to the building that contains the lockers and the case. Carver's man, Victor locks Nick in his car's trunk and goes to retrieve the case. They are ambushed by the Triads.

In the midst of the fight, Nick is released. He goes to find Kira and is confronted by Victor, also a Mover and a Division agent who works for Carver.

During the fight between Nick and Victor, the leader of the triad kills Victor in retaliation for killing one of his sons. He is later killed by Nick who moved the bamboo structure on him.

Carver with Kira then confronts Nick with the Case. Kira informs Nick that he was Push-ed with the memory of Coney Island. that they never have a relationship before and she is with Division all along. frustrated, Nick grabs the case and jams the syringe into his arm, apparently killing himself.

After the fight ends and Carver leaves with Kira, Nick wakes up. Cassie appears, and retrieves the true case, revealing that Nick injected himself with soy sauce, as they planned. Asked whether they will see Kira again, Cassie tells Nick that they will see "Miss Trouble soon enough".

Flying back to America with a sleeping Carver, Kira opens her purse and finds her envelope. She remembers Nick telling her to open it when "she started doubting the truth" and opens it. She finds a photograph of herself and Nick in a relationship, and a message written on the photograph that says "KILL HIM" on the upper left corner and "See U soon, Nick" on the lower right. Kira "pushes" Carver, commanding him to put his gun in his mouth and pull the trigger. The screen fades to black, followed by the sound of a gunshot.


the Types of Superhuman:

Watchers

Watchers have the ability to foresee the future to varying degrees. As knowledge of the future invariably causes that future to change, Watchers' visions of the future in their direct sphere of influence are subject to frequent shifting. Watchers visions are like a sense of deja vu. Watchers can get visions at will. Drinking alcoholic beverages can temporarily enhance a Watcher's abilities (as shown by Cassie). Cassie and Pop Girl are Watchers and Cassie's mother is also an advanced Watcher.

Movers

Movers are powerful telekinetics who are trained to identify the specific atomic frequency of a given material and alter the gravitational field around it, usually causing the nearby air to appear warped. This allows them to move both animate and inanimate objects. Advanced Movers can work at the molecular level, creating energy shields in the air around them or create power fists and kicks, a strike that delivers three times the power of a normal punch. Nick is a Mover, but not a very advanced one, unlike Victor, Carver's right-hand man.

Pushers

Pushers have the ability to implant memories, thoughts and emotions into the minds of other people in order to manipulate them. The skill level of the Pusher determines how many people the Pusher is able to control at one time, and how vivid the implanted memories are. A powerful Pusher can push a large group of people at the same time, basically creating a personal army. A Pusher is able to make a person do anything the Pusher desires, even commit suicide. A Pusher's eyes indicate how powerful they are: their pupils will dilate to certain degrees depending on how powerful the push is (for example, Henry Carver's eyes are rendered completely black, signifying that he is an extremely able and effective Pusher). Carver is a trained Pusher, and Kira as well.

Bleeders
Bleeders have the ability to emit high-pitched sonic vibrations that cause ruptures in a target's blood vessels. While using this ability, their pupils turn into vertical slits, like a snake's, because of synthetic materials implanted in them to protect their blood vessels from the effects of their own ability. They are also sometimes known as Screechers or Screamers. Pop Girl's brothers and father, the Triads, are Bleeders.

Sniffs

Sniffs are highly developed psychometrics who can track the location of people or objects over varying distances. Like bloodhounds, their ability is increased if they have tactile access to an object that has been in direct contact with the subject. Sniffs receive information in the form of images, which is why identifiable landmarks help increase their effectiveness. Emily Hu is a highly trained Sniff, and she uses her powers for money. Carver's associates who kidnapped Kira are also Sniffs.

Shifters
Shifters can temporarily alter the appearance of an object by manipulating patterns of light interacting with it. Once the illusion is established, it remains with the object for a short period of time. For example, a Shifter could touch a one dollar bill and alter it to appear as a one hundred dollar bill until the effect expires. The object shifted must have roughly the same dimensions as the object it is shifted into. The length of time that the effect will last is based on the Shifter's experience. Hook Waters, an ex-Division agent and Nick's friend, is a highly experienced Shifter.

Wipers
Wipers are skilled at either temporarily or permanently erasing memories, an invaluable asset in espionage. Experience will dictate the accuracy of their wipes, though there is always the danger that they will eliminate a desired memory. Wo Chiang, a fisherman who lives on a dock, is a Wiper who uses his powers on those who request it for money. He also erases part of Nick's and Kira's memory, and saves Cassie from Pop Girl by sneaking behind her and wiping her entire memory.

Shadows
Shadows are trained to block the vision of other clairvoyants, such as Sniffs, making any subject within their target radius appear "dark". Experience will enhance the size of the area they can shadow and the intensity of their shielding effect. Shadows need to be awake to manifest their ability, so it is common for a detail of two Shadows to operate in shifts while protecting a person or object for extended periods. Most Shadows are effective only against Sniffs, but some extremely powerful Shadows are able to block even Watchers. Pinky, a friend of Nick's, is a Shadow, and he is effective only against Sniffs. Like other characters, he also uses his powers for money. An old woman hired by Kira to hide the syringe has the ability to shadow an entire building, even from Watchers.

Stitches
Stitches are psychic surgeons trained to quickly reconstruct cells to their previous or healthy state. Using only their hands, they can heal and even un-heal whatever they have done. For more detailed work, Stitches use a silver-based cream on their hands which acts as a conductor for their ability.


the Review:
the movie is so-so to me. the villains had many times a chance to finish Nick off yet they let him get away. the script put Nick and Kira together yet the chemistry between them too is hardly there.

Cassie as a 13-year old is believable. though i wonder why didn't she appear before the Sniffs get to Nick. the movie scripts is not that good to me, you know. loopholes in the script are everywhere.

but i do appreciate the way the film was made. different usage of camera and scenery, the special effects was really good. there were attempts to include some good songs but i felt that was put in half-heartedly. they filmed this in Hong Kong but other than the bustling market scenes, the harbour and the eateries, not much of Hong Kong can be seen here. there were some spots of Cantonese-medium conversation but my subtitles didn't cover that, more's the pity. i only can understand a bit. hu hu, rugi!

a lot was taken for granted. like the way Nick seems to know what messages to leave to his friends. maybe he gets the help from Cassie. and the way they seem to connect this to Cassie's mom's careful planning, i don't know. and how on earth they will be able to cause damage to the Division by having that Syringe i don't know.

oh heck! maybe there'll be a sequel. who knows?