DVD Review: Push

Chris Kaltenbach - Baltimore Sun

Set "two days from now," in a Hong Kong where you can't walk 10 yards without encountering someone with mutant powers (including a posse of Asians whose power consists of making bug eyes and bursting glass fish-tanks with their high-decibel shrieks), "Push" watches as a bunch of second-generation mutants have-at each other, with the future of all Mutantdom as the prize!

For the good guys, we have Chris Evans' Nick, who can move things with his mind (including guns -- very cool), and Dakota Fanning's Cassie, who can draw pictures of what might be the future, unless things change. Among the bad guys, we have Djimon Hounsou's menacingly mysterious agent of some menacingly mysterious government agency, who specializes in looking very menacing; some British guy who doesn't say much, but is even better at moving stuff than Nick is; and, of course, the aforementioned posse.

They're all after this briefcase with a hypodermic needle inside that might contain the key to super-mutantdom.

"Push" has plenty of attitude to go with an over-abundance of style, in service to the sort of labyrinthine plot, where nothing is as it seems. That seems impressive as long as you don't think about it too hard. On the plus side, director Paul McGuigan ("Lucky Number Slevin") keeps things moving, and Fanning's continuing development as a young actress still testing her limits is fun to watch. Keep your eye on Camilla Belle's Kira; she's the real wild card here, and the only character with more than one dimension.

"Push." Starring Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning. Directed by Paul McGuigan. Released by Summit Entertainment. $26.95 (blu-ray $34.95).

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Also out today: The great John Barrymore, now perhaps better known as Drew's grandfather, bursts from the silent screen in the four-disc "John Barrymore Collection" (Kino, $59.95), which includes 1922's "Sherlock Holmes" (first time on DVD), 1928's "Tempest," 1927's "The Beloved Rogue" and 1920's startling "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde."

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