Jumper falls flat

By Elizabeth Bailey, staff writer
Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Previews of Jumper show a lot of action, but that's really all Jumper is - a feast for the eyes, not for the mind.

The protagonist, David Rice (Hayden Christensen), is a 15-year-old boy who discovers, as he is drowning, that he has the power to teleport. Flash forward eight years, and Rice is living in the lap of luxury and excitement, using his teleporting skills to “borrow” money whenever and wherever he wants to.

His comfortable lifestyle ends when a religious sect called the Paladins intervenes. Led by eye-bulging Roland (Samuel L. Jackson), the Paladins' mission is to rid the world of Jumpers, such as Rice, because they believe humans should not have the power to teleport and become corrupted in the process.

Rice escapes the clutches of the Paladins, returns home, and reunites with Millie, his high school crush, played by lovely Rachel Bilson. Soon after seeing each other again, they leave for a trip to Italy. There, Rice has another run in with the Paladins and temporarily teams up with a sarcastic fellow Jumper named Griffin (Jamie Bell). Together they fight the ferocious Roland, and surprise visits, deaths, and shocking revelations ensue.

This movie had the making of a good storyline, but due to the lack of explanation by the writers of the central conflict between Paladins and Jumpers, it's just a confusing hodge podge. There are more questions than answers by the movie's end, and the whole movie seemed half-baked. There were few scenes with other Paladins and the story behind the “war” was underdeveloped. There was also a mystery surrounding Rice's mother that only got a weak answer. Also, Millie, seeing Rice after eight years of not knowing whether or not he was dead, trots off to Italy with him, no questions asked; it seemed a little preposterous.

All in all, Jumper was really just an excuse to shoot long action scenes between the Jumpers and the Paladins in exotic locations. At the end of the movie, even they got tedious and a bit annoying. We understand that you can teleport, so please do something different besides teleporting every five seconds. If you're looking for a movie with lots of action and interesting locations and won't be bothered by unresolved plot conflicts, then this movie is for you.

Rating: 8/10
Genre: Action/Adventure and Science Fiction/Fantasy
Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
PG-13 for sequences of intense action violence, some language and brief sexuality.