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Running Time: 1 hr. 30 min.
Release Date: February 14th, 2008 (wide)
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of intense action violence, some language and brief sexuality.
Distributors: 20th Century Fox Distribution
Cast and Credits
Starring: Hayden Christensen, Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Bell, Diane Lane, Max Thieriot
Directed by: Doug Liman
Produced by: Vince Gerardis, Ralph Vicinanza, Stacy Maes
David Rice, a fifteen-year-old high school student discovers that he can teleport after falling in ice cold water. He leaves his home to become a professional thief entering safes and taking as much money as he can. But his past is catching up with him as Agent Roland and the Paladins; a band of devout hunters whose goal is to exterminate all “jumpers” discovers him and wants to murder him. Can Rice escape the Roland and his Paladins?
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The sneak previews seemed much more powerful and intriguing than the actual film that was seen. Jumper felt like X-Men film combined with the crazy lunatics of the Da Vinci Code. The themes in this film seem right out of a typical comic book and before seeing the film, I was looking forward to seeing a super hero-like story adapted to celluloid. Although comic book writer David Goyer is responsible for the plot, there is no real intrigue in this film. There is no intricate chase around the world and Rice seems too powerful next to the Paladins who are supposed to be expert hunters.
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More backstory into the war between the Paladins and the Jumpers would have been fun. For example, how was the strange technology used to hunt the Jumpers was developed? Instead, the Jumpers’ entire cast, is concentrated in Rice’s ally, Griffin, a young British jumper. Although an expert Jumper, Griffin is easily tricked by Rice later in the film and one imagine, left to die. A few more inconsistencies are Rice’s mother. One assumes that she’s a jumper herself, until the last scene of the film.
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The X-Men movie franchise was better at explaining the alienation and the benefits of using super powers and how others feared them. Da Vinci Code, as much as I loathe that film was better at showing us crazy religious fanatics and their motivations. It seems that the director told himself that the audience, having seen enough mutants films and religious goons in movies, did not need to be introduced to these concept in Jumper. It's a bit sloppy to let other films explain yours. Nevertheless, Jumper seems to cast itself for a possible sequel.
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Visually, the film is interesting, and the effects well rendered. Although there was some exciting fighting choreography, it’s nothing groundbreaking. I did find the sound effect for the teleportation annoying after a while. It’s as if the directors felt the viewers had to understand that the characters were teleporting.
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