It has been a struggle worthy of the funny books. The casting search for the next Captain America has been well documented the web over, including right here at AP. At one point our little geek hearts leapt up when Jensen Ackles was briefly mentioned, or Chris Pine looked poised to grab the mask and shield. That’s all behind us now, though.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Chris Evans (Push, The Fantastic Four) has been offered the role of Captain America in Joe Johnston’s big screen adaptation of the beloved character. Evans has a couple of projects currently lined up, including one just wrapped called Puncture, and there’s the possibility that if he takes the Captain gig, some of those that have yet to film might fall by the wayside. Let’s not forget that America comes with a deal for 9 options. Pretty heavy.

As for the specifics of the offer and Evans’ response, publicists for both Chris and Marvel have not offered up comment. Something tells me we will hear soon, though.

Evans, best known as The Human Torch in the silly and tepid Fantastic Four films is actually a better and stronger actor than his resume would let on. He may not have hit any particularly resonant notes in last year’s sci-fi trash Push, but check out something like Sunshine or The Perfect Score to see the man supporting a film with all his might.

Captain America seems like a great opportunity for him, and I’m now curious about what he could do with the role given the right script and direction. Better yet, playing Cap will help wash away the taste of those dreadful FF movies, of which he was the best thing.

How about all of you? Does Evans as Captain America tickle your fancy?

Let’s hear your thoughts on this.

Greetings my fellow fans. It is I, Plus1, and I’m back with another movie review. However today’s review is giving me a major problem as I don’t know how to say anything nice about the piece of trash I sat through. Push will go down as one of the worst movies to ever grace the silver screen. This was two hours of major disappointment with a plot so thin it makes Larry King’s hair look full and lovely.

The plot is simple. The world is full of people with super natural abilities. The super secret organization called Division wants to control these people and use them to create an army of super soldiers. Division has been testing a new drug that will enhance the person’s natural ability and make them stronger. However one minor side affect is halting the progress of this testing: the testees (ha ha, I said testes) are dying after injection. That is, until one test subject manages to survive and escape – with a syringe of the magic drug.

Division has categorized the super natural into the following:
Watcher – future seer
Mover – telekinesis users
Pusher – ability to push thoughts into one’s mind
Shadow – ability to hide people, buildings, whatever from others
Stitch – ability to heal or harm via touch
Screamer – ability to scream loudly and blow things up
Sniffer – ability to track anyone via their smell

So now that we have the list of the types of characters we need to do something with them. THAT is where the major problem of this movie comes into play. There was just too much going on here for a two-hour movie. If this were a TV show, say Heroes, where you can try to flesh out the characters and plot it may work if given time (and not canceled after the first episode). But Push doesn’t work and it fails miserably.

Nick Grant (played by Chris Evans), is a ‘mover’ on the run from Division. He is living in Tokyo where he is found by two ‘sniffers’ who are looking for Kira Hudson (played by Camilla Belle). She would the be one that escaped with the magic drug. Nick is aided in his quest to also find Kira with the ‘watcher” known as Cassie Holmes (played by Dakota Fanning) who knows what will happen but keeps reminding us that the future is always changing. They all need the drug to bring down Division and stop their experimentation.

As I said, this movie isn’t good, BUT there are some shining moments. There is a fight in a restaurant between Nick and another character who is also a ‘mover’. They do some interesting things with telekinesis, guns, and throwing things into the ceiling. The same can be said of the ending battle where all of the factions come together for the ultimate be-all-end-all. After that…not so much else.

Push is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, brief strong language, smoking and a scene of teen drinking (thank you MPAA for now noting that a teen drinks, what’s next, you’ll tell us that there is a scene where someone goes to the bathroom?). Run time is just under 2 hours.

Save it for a late night, drunken view on cable.

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆