Jumper Movie review
posted on 31 May 2008
Jumper is a relentlessly silly thriller from Doug Liman, the director of The Bourne Identity and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The weird thing is, it's strangely watchable if you don't read too much into it.
Hayden Christensen is David Rice, a young man with an extraordinary gift. As a teenager, David discovers he has the ability to teleport himself at will following a near tragic accident. As he grows into adulthood, he does what any sensible human being would do with such a gift. He uses it to rob banks and travel the world. So much for helping those in need (watch as a selfish David observes the aftermath of a deadly flood on the news and chooses to ignore it even though he has the power to swoop in and aid the helpless victims).
There's plenty of other stuff going on in the film as well. Perhaps too much for an eighty five minute movie. There's a love story, a playful game of cat and mouse between David and a rival jumper (played by a lively Jamie (Diving) Bell), and, of course, conflict created at the hands of a ruthless bounty hunter (played by Samuel L. Jackson –sporting the hairdo of his famed career) out to rid the word of jumpers – he believes only God should possess such powers. Not that any of this stuff is truly explored. Jumper simply introduces subplot after subplot with nary an ounce of exposition whatsoever, treating the audience members as if they have no attention span. Transformers, eat your heart out.
To call this film hyper kinetic would be a massive understatement. Jumper is messy and convoluted but that's what makes it somewhat watchable I suppose. It's most entertaining when Liman pours on the jumping – and that's a majority of the time. The final act of the picture flies fast and furious and even when things aren't making a whole lot of sense – many of the jumping sequences are sloppy in their execution - there's an energy about the proceedings that keep the film moderately entertaining.
Star Hayden Christensen can be effective (see Shattered Glass) but more often than not, he has the personality of an egg plant. That's ok though, because some people like egg plant. Me? I'm not a huge fan, but sometimes, I'm in the mood for it. In Jumper, the egg plant was a bit undercooked.
I had zero expectations for this and while I'm not anxiously awaiting the inevitable sequel (Jumper has franchise written all over it), the movie wasn't a total waste. Still, I couldn't help but think of what could have been as I watched this weird, underdeveloped fusion of The Bourne Identity and Quantum Leap.
"Jumper" 
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