Jumper
Directed by: Doug Liman
Written by: David S. Goyer, Jim Uhls, Simon Kinberg (screenplay), Steven Gould (novel)
Starring: Hayden Christensen, Samuel L. Jackson, Rachel Bilson, Diane Lane, Michael Rooker

We generally don’t see many big special effects movies released in the dead of February, so the fact that Jumper, Doug Liman’s new sci-fi actioner, hit theatres this week could be interpreted in a couple of different ways. First of all, it could be an attempt by 20th Century Fox to offer audiences a more straightforward alternative and candy-coated respite from the complex Oscar contenders that typically occupy screens at this time of year. On the other hand, it could just be a second-rate blockbuster that wouldn’t cut it against the other heavy hitters during the summer months. I was hoping for the former, but bracing myself for the latter.

Based on a series of young adult novels by Steven Gould, the movie presents a secret war that has been waged in our world for centuries between two opposing groups: jumpers and paladins. Jumpers are human beings who are born with the genetic ability to teleport anywhere in the world instantly (not unlike X-Men’s Nightcrawler), while the paladins are fanatical group determined to track all the jumpers down and kill them, regarding them as dangerous outlaws who don’t deserve this amazing gift that they were given. Of course, this probably makes it sound like the movie depicts a large scale battle between two massive armies, but that isn’t quite the case. The story is all told from the point of view of one young jumper by the name of David Rice, who is initially unaware that any others like him exist.

The movie starts off by flaunting a concept that is both promising and intriguing. David (Hayden Christensen) accidentally discovers his teleportation ability as a teenager when he finds himself in a life-threatening situation (much like all superhero origin stories). However, this goes the complete opposite direction of every other superhero movie, because he does not choose to use his abilities to fight crime. Instead he decides to leave his broken family behind him and goes off on his own to experience life to the fullest, teleporting to exciting places all over the world and slipping in and out of bank vaults whenever he is in need of some quick cash.

I thought this part of the film played out quite well, and considering that the original story was intended for young adults, it was fun and exciting to see a character living out this fantasy life that I’m sure we’ve all dreamed of having. If you’re looking for a movie that nails the idea of escapism, well, this is it.

Unfortunately, as Samuel L. Jackson’s character informs us, “there are always consequences”, and soon David is brought back to reality when the paladins track him down. He narrowly escapes his first encounter, eventually meeting up with another fellow jumper who gives him some basic information about the war he is now caught in the middle of. But when David tries to reconnect with his long-time high school crush, he ends up putting her in the line of fire as well.

Up to a certain point, I thought Jumper was a decent popcorn flick and I enjoyed it for what it was… nothing particularly deep or dramatic, but just entertaining enough to make it worthwhile. Unfortunately, the movie really falls into an unrecoverable tailspin during the last 20 or 30 minutes. Just when it seems like they are about to pull back the veil and give us the true meat of the story, it fizzles and goes absolutely nowhere. Instead of delivering an epic fight at the climax of the film, everything seems to get resolved in the blink of an eye and wrapped up for us in a neat little package. It’s pretty obvious that they wanted to set things up for a sequel, but in doing so they made the same mistake that The Golden Compass did: the first movie is just not fulfilling enough on its own merit to get us hooked and wanting more.

Hayden Christensen, for his part, did a decent job in the lead role. I’ll be the first to admit that the guy was a bit robotic in Star Wars: Episode II and III, and I didn’t expect much from him in this movie, but to his credit he is likable and charismatic. He pulled off a believable character that is self-centered, but also wounded inside. His love story with Rachel Bilson plays out a fair bit better than the Anakin/Padme relationship in Star Wars (and this despite the fact that Rachel Bilson is so much less talented than Natalie Portman).

Samuel L. Jackson’s presence, on the other hand, does nothing for the movie. He resembles an unintimidating, uninteresting Agent Smith, and everything about his performance just says he is in it for the paycheck. Jackson has been in some great movies over the years, but for some reason, whenever he has to play a villain he becomes borderline laughable (ie. Unbreakable). He brought a corny b-movie element to the film that wasn’t really needed (as did Michael Rooker as David’s father), but it was never played up enough to make it fun.

It’s also worth mentioning that there is not as much action in this movie as the trailers would lead you to believe. Although the effects for the jumping are cool, a lot of the fight scenes are very short and fall victim to the shaky cam syndrome (Doug Liman was never as adept at this style of camerawork as Paul Greengrass). I’ve liked just about everything Liman has done so far in his career, from Swingers and Go, to The Bourne Identity and Mr. & Mrs. Smith but this will be the first big blemish on his filmography in my mind. (I suspect that the script from David Goyer et al. is primarily to blame, but Liman will have to shoulder some of the responsibility too.)

In the end, I don’t necessarily think Jumper deserves quite as much flack as it has been getting thus far, but on the other hand it’s not really worth defending either. It’s just mediocre. It may have had the potential to be something decent, but none of the people involved knew how to bring it to the next level. The fact is, if you’re making a big special effects flick, then you had better make those visuals absolutely mind-blowing, or at least give us a decent story to go with it. Jumper doesn’t manage either, and as such, becomes instantly forgettable the minute you walk out of the theatre. — Sean

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Recommended If You Like: Spider-Man, Harry Potter, The Matrix, The Invisible

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