Jumper

Jumper

Action

2008

Rated: PG-13

Running Time: 88 minutes

Starring: Hayden Christensen, Jamie Bell, Rachel Bilson, Samuel L Jackson, Diane Lane

Directed By: Doug Liman

Rating: 5 out of 10

Outline

A select group of people have the ability to transport and not everyone thinks this is natural.

Review

For some reason as I write this review I have the theme song from the Gummi Bears cartoon running through my head. Sorry for that obscure insight to my inner workings. It sometimes happens in life that you meet a person who has admirable qualities but come off as trying too hard to be liked. This is the case with Jumper. I wanted to like it but it seemed like it was trying way too hard to win my approval. Jumper is a simple tale of people with the power of teleportation. They can bounce all over the world with differing degrees of success and modification. For my nerdy fans out there it is basically Nightcrawler’s ability from X-Men but without the awesomeness of that comic book character. For right or wrong these people who teleport (They are called Jumpers) are pursued by a group of people (called Paladins) that deem their abilities unnatural. So it is a pretty simple concept of a game of cat and mouse with a cool visual ability but it doesn’t pan out. First and foremost the lead character David Rice played by actor Hayden Christensen was terrible. I am especially tough on Hayden as he was one of the black eyes on the new Star Wars movies. He never seems natural on screen and it is a major distraction. He also has zero chemistry in this film with love interest Millie played by Rachel Bilson. Their pained courtship was hard to watch and downright cheesy. Thank god for the casting of Jamie Bell as the jumper Griffin. He alone almost saved this film with his supporting role. He has added charm and humor to this film with his calm under pressure demeanor and ability to direct the fight scenes. Very few movies work where the leads are outshone by their support and this film is no different. Throw in Samuel L Jackson with blonde hair as the very generic chief paladin and the films cast was very poorly constructed. The story is also way too long in the making. I get we have to follow David Rice in his journey to understand his teleporting powers but there is no need to take so long getting there. The film also has David Rice jumping all over the world to various famous landmarks and sites and that is where the movie is trying way too hard. We get you can teleport now entertain us with it. You would think with the ability to transport that they could hit up an acting school but alas this is not the case. The fight scenes while neat and well thought up in their execution come infrequently and the viewer is forced to sit through spotty dialogue and predictable back story to get there. Director Doug Liman could have put this movie together better and pulled for a better cast in my mind. I actually would look forward to a second Jumper if they do one as we could get right into the fighting from the start which is what everyone wanted from this film in the first place. I cannot recommend this film while entertaining at times it does not utilize the teleporting ability to its maximum potential and the characters will convince no one.

T Factor + If you like Hayden Christensen as an actor this could score higher on the rating scale.

T Factor- If you need frequent bursts of action this could score lower on the rating scale.

If you liked this film reel recommendations: X2, or Chronicles of Riddick