Jumper

Dan Owen reviews

JumperDistributed by
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment As premiered on
danowen.blogspot.comDVD:
Blu-Ray:

• Cert:
• Running time: 84 minutes
• Year: 2008
• Pressing: 2008
• Region(s): 2, PAL
• Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
• Languages: English
• Subtitles: English
• Widescreen: 2.35:1
• 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
• Macrovision: Yes
• Disc Format: DVD 9
• Price: £19.99 (DVD), £28.99 (Blu-ray)
• Rating: 4/10
• Extras:Audio commentary, Featurettes: Jumping from Novel to Film, Making An Actor Jump;Previz: Future Concepts
  

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  Director:

  Doug Liman

Producers:

Lucas Foster, Simon Kinberg, Arnon Milchan and Jay Sanders

Screenplay:

Simon Kinberg, Jim Uhls & David S. Goyer

(based on a novel by Steven Gould)

Music:

John Powell

Cast:

David Rice: Hayden Christensen
Millie Harris: Rachel Bilson
Roland Cox: Samuel L. Jackson
Griffin: Jamie Bell
William Rice: Michael Rooker
Mary Rice: Diane Lane
Mark Kobold: Teddy Dunn
David Rice, teenager: Max Thieriot
Millie Harris, teenager: AnnaSophia Robb
Sophie: Kristen Stewart

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A young man discovers he has the power of teleportation, but finds himself caught up in a centuries-old battle against those fearful of “jumpers”…

I feel a bit sorry for director Doug Liman; his debut Swingerswas cult-cool, follow-upGowas entertaining but nobody saw it, hisBourne Identityonly became a phenomenon with its superior sequels, Brad Pitt and AngelinaJolie’s real-life romance overshadowed the fun of spy-actionMr & Mrs Smith,and now Jumper has been branded a listless bore by most critics…

And it’s true; the high-concept Jumper is his weakest film. But it’s visuallya treat and provides 90-minutes of superficial whiz-bang entertainment, thanksto a mythology that unspools at a careful lick, and a teleportation effectthat’s more exciting than you’d expect. Hayden Christensen(Star Wars Episode II & III) plays David Rice, a young man who discovered hecould teleport after falling into an icy lake and, with his life threatened,transporting himself to the local library with a splash…

After getting a handle on his new-found powers, David leaves his abusive father (Michael Rooker) for a life of crime (stealing cash from locked bankvaults), becoming accustomed to his bachelor lifestyle of ill-gotten luxury –flitting from his playboy apartment to stand on the face of Big Ben, or takein the sights atop the Sphinx.

It’s a life of no physical limitations, but Davidsoon discovers there are other “jumpers” around — like roguish Griffin (Jamie Bell),who introduces him to “the war” between jumpers and Paladin (killjoy assassins,led by Samuel L. Jackson‘s Roland, who believe jumpers are abominationsbecause only God can be “everywhere at once”). Apparently, nobody has informedthe Paladin that jumpers can’t “be in all places at all times”, actually –but, hey…

Throw in a girlfriend unaware of David’s secret, The OC’s Rachel Bilsonas Millie Harris, and the stage is set for a fairly predictable sci-fi chasemovie. The film has plenty of problems, particularly the lack of developmentfor any of its characters. David’s the hero, Griffin’s the mentor, Roland’s thevillain, Millie’s the damsel-in-distress. The actors all struggle to breathelife or depth into these archetypes, but only Bell rises above the materialthanks to an enjoyable swagger and northern accent you don’t often hear inbig US movies.

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Christensen is less wooden than when portraying Anakin Skywalker (the absenceof a George Lucas script will do that), but he’s a handsome puppet Liman manipulatesthroughout the film, and never a three-dimensional person. There’s the inferenceof paternal abuse in David’s history, but it’s never developed into anything interesting,because the film is more interested in the simple cat-and-mouse thrills. Asub-plot about the mystery surrounding his absent mother (Diane Lane) isintermittently returned to, but only really exists to set-up a sequel in thedying minutes.

Samuel L. Jackson is what you’d expect: grizzled, determined, white-haired(?),and handling the action better than he did in Star Wars. Roland’s a simplecreation, who doesn’t even have a personal issue with jumpers or any of thecharacters. He’s just the face of a vague secret society that have been trackingand slaughtering jumpers for centuries — and questions about why God wouldcontinue to allow these “abominations” to be born, are left unasked. I mean,why should the Paladin question the sanctity of their crusade in this movie,when there’s so much time for electrified-lasso action — hm?

Bilson’s kinda cute, but she’s not a great actress. I wasn’t aware of herbreakthrough role in TV’s The OC, just her guest-starring role in a fewepisodes of TV’s Chuck, but she’s clearly a good-looking girl who’s cast forher diminutive, easygoing sex-appeal. There’s a slither of chemistry betweenBilson and Christensen, but not enough to get excited about, or provide anemotional connection when Millie is inevitably captured by Roland and used asbait.

The one truly successful aspect of Jumper is its teleportation effect, withthe jumpers often dragging surroundings from one location to the next (usuallywater) and causing seismic tremors. The internal logic isn’t always clear, assometimes David jumps around in his apartment with no problems, and onlysometimes causes localized damage. I think it has something to do with hismental state (he trashes a hospital when trying to save his father’s life),but it’s not made clear.

Also, we’re told jumpers can only travel to places they’ve been, can see,can visualize through a photo, or by sneaking through another jumper’sspatial “jump scar” — but that doesn’t explain how Griffin is able to tailDavid around the world, at times.

Still, the rules regarding jumps are drip-fed throughout the film nicely,helping to sustain interest as another limitation or danger is explained throughDavid’s self-experimentation or Griffin’s words of experience.

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Doug Liman directs the action well — particularly a central fight in Rome’sColiseum between efficient Griffin, out-of-his-depth David and two professionalPaladin armed with high-tech weaponry to neutralize jumpers. Other than that,nothing really stands out, although there are plenty of visually-appealing scenesdemonstrating the jump-effect — like a sports car ride through Tokyo and aclimactic grapple with Roland through jump-scars…

Overall, Jumper should have been so much more. Steven Gould’s 1992 novel isdecent source material for a movie, while Jim Uhls (Fight Club) and DavidGoyer (Batman Begins) worked on the script before Simon Kinberg (X-Men III)arrived to polish it. It seems strange that the writer ofxXxwas tasked with improving the work of Uhls and Goyer, but at some stage thestoryline lost its punch and became inconsistent — leaving the completed filmto trade heavily on admittedly-excellent FX.

While certainly watchable and diverting on quite a few occasions, there’s notmuch substance to sink your teeth into and the characters don’t leap off thescreen. Jumper’s a good idea, successful in the technical execution of itsteleporting, but hamstrung by uninteresting performances and a plot that doesn’thave much to show you beyond a few diverting action set-pieces.

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OVERALLReview copyright © Dan Owen, 2008.