DVD : Jumper [2008]

Rating: - Hmmmm
Well what can i say ... its too short and not as fast paced as i thought it would be, it only really picked up in the last half an hour or something which for me was in the final run up to the gran finale which never truly came ... it was left so there could be another Jumper film with Samuel jackson and the paladin hunter to return, but ... ugh ... it was just an end .... nothing to really talk about.

The whole film is focused around one guy who is a 'jumper' ... this is a guy who just has to focus on a place and he can go there, that is until he lands smack bang in the middle of a war between paladins and jumpers ... paladins been the 'normal people' who are fanatics and believe jumpers are an abomination before god. Anywho long story short ... you only ever see three jumpers during this entire 'war'and the charcters etc could of been alotmore developed.

Overal this film is good if you wanna sit down and turn off and just let your mind wander.

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Rating: - Jumping with a safety net
Imagine "The Bourne Identity" without the amnesia and then replace the spy aspect with teleportation and you have Doug Liman's latest movie "Jumper" pretty much down. It's a basic origin/chase movie which follows the rules of the blockbuster pretty much to a tee. That said, it is never less than good, solid fun that's neither too stupid nor overly intelligent.

The opening origin back story immediately alerts you to the fact that this is going to be enjoyable stuff, yet the proceeding story fails to live up to this early promise. Hayden Christensen plays the "hero" as a self-centred novice who uses his power for selfish benefits on a daily, minute-by-minute basis. The character is effectively unconventional in that he has no interests beyond his own - at least for the first half-an-hour anyway. When Rachel Bilson shows up as the love interest you know that Christensen is about to change his ways. Their whole sub-plot is scattershot in execution, being thrown in solely to please the teen market and the need to have a damsel-in-distress to rescue. So it falls to a magnificent Jaime Bell (of Billy Elliot fame) to steal the whole show as a grubby looking, world weary, teleporting Brit. It is only when he is introduced into the mix the story ratchets up the fun-o-meter to a much more agreeable level. He diffuses Christensen's blandness and Bilson's plastic wholesomeness very well. Samuel L. Jackson plays the villain with reasonable aplomb, rarely sinking into moustache twirling but still lacking any serious bite, while Diane Lane pops up in a barely functioning cameo to provide some exposition for those in the audience in need of a little bit more logic.

"Jumper" exudes charm but lacks wit. The central conceit has so much potential yet the film does not fully explore the power to make it anything other than a plot device for action sequences, which is a shame. I felt the story would have been better suited to following around Jaime Bell's more aggressive and much more interesting Griffin. That could have made for stronger storytelling, but by the by, we're stuck with Hayden and Bilson's abruptly executed, dull romance instead. There are some blisteringly imagined set-pieces that totally capture the confusion and chaos of jumping and fighting at the same time, but people may find it wears thin the third or fourth time around. Personally, I loved certain aspects of the story. The alternate reality of a faction of men hunting these teleporters down is very cool indeed, while Hayden's dysfunctional relationship with his Father (played nicely by Michael Rooker) is actually very well played, almost avoiding cliche. Almost. And that I suppose sums up "Jumper," it's cliché ridden, by-the-numbers Hollywood that has just enough energy and vigour to keep the attention span from looking at the watch.

Doug Liman keeps check of pace, story and a large cast of characters efficiently enough to not leave you too confused or bored while the hip cast cope with a script obviously rewritten by twenty different writers. By the end you realise exactly what this has all been about - setting up a new film franchise. Loose ends left dangling, enough characters that can come back for more, plenty of potential for other stories - this has been engineered to support at least two sequels, but whether or not they`ll be worth it is anyone`s guess. As Jumper Part One stands, this is popcorn cinema that passes the time and never strays too far from the realm of harmless, entertaining adventure stuff. That is the best recommendation I can give it. Efficient fun for anyone under the age of 21.

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Rating: - Surprisingly Good Viewing
I am not usually a big Sci Fi fan but I got this film for my partner as he said it looked really good. I have to admit I really enjoyed "Jumper" and was hooked right from the beginning.
The plot is simple but enjoyable and you really care about the characters right from the start.
A really good film without being dragged out to long. Samuel L Jackson is great as usual.

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Rating: - S'just very, very meh
Jumper doesn't wholly suck, but it didn't keep me glued to my seat, either, and it's only 83 minutes long.

Rachel Bilson is Millie - the obligatory love-interest - and she's suitably vacuous and doe-eyed; Jamie Bell is very good, and excellently cast as the manic Griffin; Hayden Christiansen, as David, the protaganist, isn't particularly likeable or charismatic, and Samuel L Jackson is utterly wasted on this film. (As a side note, it'd be nice to see him making better decisions as to what projects he'll be involved in from now on. Remember when he was cool?)

The actual jumping is fantastic. It's used to great effect throughout; lots of to-ing and fro-ing in and out of banks and into the Colosseum. The liveliest teleport involves a double-decker bus explosively popping into existence somewhere on Mount Everest. Great fun.

But the problem is, aside from the odd "Oooh!" moment, Jumper is pretty charmless. There really is no plot. Hayden Christiansen flitters about, is stalked by a psychotic Jackson, goes in search of his childhood sweetheart Bilson, meets fellow jumper Bell and goes off to Rome for a coupla days. That's sort of... it. There isn't any substance, and the gloss isn't glossy enough to make you forget the film's abject lack of meat. Literally 10 minutes before it ended, I looked at my watch because I was still waiting for the plot to kick in. Instead, the end credits rolled.

We're very briefly introduced to David's mother and discover she's a Paladin - one of the group who for centuries have sworn to kill all jumpers, so it's eminently possible the film is primarily setting the scene for the sequel/s. I hope so, because despite my grumbling, the premise is potentially very good. However, this offering is just half-arsed, limp-wristed and meh.

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Rating: - I don't understand what's suppose to be wrong with this?
So many people didn't like this, but I don't understand why exactly? Everything was good about it, maybe a bit slow for some people, but it was done as a serious film as opposed to a big summer blockbuster (all gloss, no substance). Don't listen to what people have said and make your own mind up!