Rating of
2/4
This is Doug Liman's doing?
Movies - wrote on 06/05/08
“Jumper” is about a kid named David Rice who could teleport or “jump” to whatever place he wants. In the beginning we see David at age 15, performing his first teleportation. We then flash forward eight years and see David (Hayden Christensen) living the life. He robs banks, has one night stands in Europe, and goes to basketball games all in a days time. He then runs into childhood sweetheart Millie (Rachel Bilson) who he hasn’t seen in eight years. However, he manages to convince her to go to Rome with him and bangs her even though they haven’t spent much time catching up. Wheres the Development?
We then see Samuel L. Jackson, who’s a Paladin (people who want to kill Jumpers because god should only have the power to be in two places at once). Throughout the film we see David try to runaway from Paladins, run into Griffin (Jamie Bell) who seemed to be the only interesting character in the entire film, keep Millie away from harms danger, and find out where his mom (Diane Lane) has been all these years.
The plot had a lot of potential. I would have liked to have seen the Jumper vs Paladin plot expanded a bit more and where his mom exactly fits into all of it. No explanation is given as to why David has the ability to jump. Theres very little development, which really pisses me off when I’m trying to enjoy a film. Hayden Christensen looks to be the next Keanu Reeves, which is very very bad. The kid is so bland and seems like hes unhappy even when smiling. Bilson is just as bland as Christensen was. Jamie Bell really stole the show with the humor and personality he brought to his character. I wish the movie was about him.
However, since the action sequences are extremely well done and the plot shows a lot of promise. I’ll give this film two stars. If theres a sequel that fixes these problems that exist in “Jumper” then ill go see it. But I expected something much better from the director who did “The Bourne Identity." A big disappointment.
Cast: Hayden Christensen, Rachel Bilson, Jamie Bell, Samuel L. Jackson, Diane Lane
Directed by Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Mr. and Mrs. Smith)
