On DVD: Push surprises

Push movie review (on DVD)

Score: 8/10

Where has this movie been hiding? Its scores on Flixster and Rotten Tomatoes are not good -- either by fans or critics. But I found it to be a slick, stylistic combination of NBC's Heroes (a better version) and the Bourne movies. I enjoyed it more than almost any movie I've seen this summer (in theaters or on DVD), and it did a better job of capturing my vision of what superhero entertainment can do than Heroes or the most recent X-Men and Spider-Man movies.

What worked: First off, some great action sequences. Toward the end there's a fight scene between two Movers, wacking each other with telekinetic punches. And because it's in Hong Kong, most of the backgrounds were stunning and eary. The acting was also above average (hats off to Chris Evans), and the story was tight, though somewhat confusing at times. And I can't say enough about the style -- just a great combination of camera work and editing.

What didn't work: The story was a little confusing -- but I think it was meant to be. Following all the different 'super-folk' was a little difficult at the beginning, and could have been very hard if you aren't well-versed on the genre. The ending also left it wide open for a sequel (that's not likely to happen) so some of the biggest plot elements were left untied.

I did want to address the criticism I've heard that this is a rip-off of Heroes and X-Men. First, nothing can be a rip-off of Heroes. I enjoy the show, but there's nothing particularly original in its storyline; it's borrowing heavily from decades of comic book lore. Second, I didn't find it much like the X-Men films and only marginally like the comic books. Yes, it too borrowed from comic book themes and powers, but I don't really rate that as a crime. It's a genre flick, and I'm fine with that as long as the story and characters are interesting, which they were.

Who would want to see it. This is a tough one. It got panned by a lot of comic book fans, but I thought it was good in that context. It's also a very good action flick, with more drama and character development than most. It is pretty violent, and it contains underage drinking, so those are some of the warning signs.

Closing credits. As you can tell, I wish I would have seen this sooner. I might buy this on DVD -- it was highly entertaining, and I suspect has good re-watchability. In my mind, Push has taken its place in the top 8 superhero movies of all-time.