| JUMPER |
 2008 - USADirector: Doug Liman
- Reviewed by Vickie
Based on the novel by Steven Gould, Jumper tells the story of a teleporting teen turned semi-annoying young adult named David Rice (Hayden Christensen), who possesses the ability to "jump" from any one place to any other place on the planet just by wanting to do it. One shimmering effect later, he's halfway around the planet or on the other side of a closet door. He learns he has this talent the hard way during a bullying incident at school, and is soon honing his skills so that he can rob banks undetected and live the lavish lifestyle of an emancipated minor. (Okay, so he's not so much "emancipated" as he runs away from home at 15 and never looks back.) But, just as things look to be going beyond swimmingly for David—he jumps around the world with nary a care in it, and he's reunited with his childhood crush, Millie (Rachel Bilson), for some lovin' in Rome—Samuel L. Jackson shows up in a frightful white hairpiece to stir s**t up. Jackson plays Roland, a "Paladin" who wants to kill David. Seems the Paladins are an ancient group of religious fanatics (not unlike Paul Bettany's albino monk in The DaVinci Code) who have been executing jumpers for centuries because they believe only God should have the power to teleport. Wait. What? Does God really "teleport"? Aided by a fellow jumper named Griffin (Jamie Bell, who's great), David tries to flee. Or fight. Or flee. Again and again. To all sorts of locations. But Roland and his global network of Paladins (these guys have more resources and technology at their fingertips than the CIA!) are always hot on his trail. Much mayhem ensues. Problem is, this plot point ("when in doubt, jump on out!") works for a while but gets old really quickly. What starts out as kind of a neat movie about teleportation becomes nothing more than an extended chase-and-fight sequence designed to showcase the special effects—which are, to be honest, really cool. I suppose the emphasis on action over acting serves to help Christensen, who hasn't really been a compelling screen presence since My Life as a House and who's certainly unremarkable here. His David is kind of bratty and cocky, and not necessarily the most likable hero to ever jump onto the screen, so it's hard to empathize with him. Clearly, he missed the whole "with great power comes great responsibility" lesson of countless superhero tales gone by, because David is repeatedly irresponsible in stupid ways. Samuel L. Jackson trots out the same schtick he's trotted out in dozens of other films, and Bilson is meh as a love interest. (In her defense, the filmmakers haven't really given her much to work with beyond "okay, you're a damsel in distress!"). In a nutshell: the effects are memorable, but the performances are forgettable. The film clocks in at a very trim 88 minutes, and I couldn't help but wonder if it might have been better to add in another quarter-hour or so of story to flesh everything out a bit. Who are the Paladins? How to they know who the jumpers are? How do they "track" the jumpers all over the globe? And why, after hundreds and hundreds of years, are they still so pissed off and vengeful?? More importantly, HOW DID DIANE LANE WIND UP IN THIS?! Yes, Diane Lane. I nearly did a spit-take when she popped onscreen for all of three minutes as David's long-lost mother. Was director Doug Liman drunk when he figured that's all the screen time she was worth in a movie that, let's be honest, doesn't really feature the most gifted actors ever to grace a marquee? Oh, and just for good measure, Kristen Stewart shows up in the film's last three minutes in a role that could have easily gone to Random Day Player #56. Seriously. Fortunately, or unfortunately (depending on your perspective), the tragically underwhelming and confusing ending—in which it's not entirely clear who's lived and who's died—leaves the door open for a sequel. I'm not sure studios, or audiences, will be jumping onboard, though. (Sorry, couldn't resist.) |
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"Jumpy" might be a more apt title for this jumbled, frenetic actioner
with sci-fi undertones. Both the characters and the story leap all over
the damn place to the point where it literally becomes dizzying trying
to follow what's happening onscreen.
