Push

Stars: Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Camilla Belle, Djimon Hounsou, Neil Jackson, Cliff Curtis, Nate Mooney, Ming-Na, Paul Car, Maggie Siff

Director: Paul McGuigan

Poor, unfortunate Dakota Fanning. The highly-rated ex-child star, who seems to be making a hash of her teenage career, flounders as badly as everyone else in this flabby, Hong Kong-set, science-fiction malarkey about people with special powers and the drug that can enhance those powers.

Leading those on the run from the Sniffers, Watchers and Pushers of The Division (headed by Hounsou) and the Shadows and Bleeders of the local Triads, is Nick, played by Evans from The Fantastic 4 films, though there's nothing fantastic about this one; even though people move objects and heal wounds, nothing could heal this script, which half-way through kind of turns into a sideshoot of The Matrix.

'What if nothing we did made sense?' Evans asks his fellow-hunted. Well, we can agree with him there. 'What a waste,' exclaims Hounsou of Evans' 'demise' (don't worry), though he might be referring to the budget. Very slow in parts, the film has no cohesion, no narrative drive, no decent performances and makes no sense.

'I don't know how,' says Evans, 'but I know this is going to work out.' He isn't, of course, referring to the film, which fails even to locate Belle's missing mother at the end. Maybe they're saving that for a sequel. Heaven help us all if it's as bad as this.

David Quinlan

USA 2009. UK Distributor: Icon. Colour by deluxe.
111 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 12A.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 1, Drugs 1, Swearing 1.

Review date: 13 Feb 2009