The Sandspur

Issue date: 2/21/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment

For those date-goers looking for a way to cap off a Valentine's Day evening, the opening film Jumper provided an intriguing choice in movie selections.

If the ever so good-looking lead stars of Hayden Christiansen and Rachel Bilson were not enough to provoke interest, the plot line of Steven Gould's novel-turned-movie same name titled flick was certainly a draw.

In the film, the story follows a young man, David (Hayden Christiansen), who discovers he has the ability to teleport virtually anywhere in the world.

After this superpower emerges, David runs away from his broken home and uses his newfound capabilities to enrich his lifestyle. Although David's irresponsible antics support his opulent life, he soon comes to find that he is not alone in possessing this power - an allied jumper Griffin is played by Jamie Bell - and that there are great dangers involved in the bestowment of such a gift.

A subgroup of people, the Paladins, led by Samuel L. Jackson's character Roland, are in opposition to jumpers and have made it their life mission to destroy any and all remaining people possessing such a gift- as they believe the ability to jump is one that God should only possess.

David soon becomes entangled in a messy battle to save his family's life, protect his childhood friend Millie (Rachel Bilson)
and secure jumpers' lives from the bloodthirsty Paladins.

Director Doug Liman takes viewers on a scenic feast of exotic location scene sequences in order to advance the audience's understanding of the full capacity of a jumper's true abilities to teleport anywhere.

From Cairo to Rome, Tokyo to the desert, the film's destination shots are what make the movie both entertaining and visually stimulating. While the movie seems part action flick, part comic book, the execution of the footage, dialogue and progression of the plot feel a little rough or unfi nished.

Unfortunately, the character development and explanation of the story line are lacking in signifi cant support. The movie touches on the explanations of the plot just enough to allow the audience to have a superficial understanding.

While the viewer can adequately follow along with the plot, the deeper complexities of empathy and understanding of main characters is negatively affected by such a surface focus.

The movie would have served to better enhance the qualities of the main characters to support a more centralized and focused story line. The way the movie unfolds allows for a mildly chaotic and slightly scattered direction on the film, which could, in part, due to the rather short running time of under an hour and a half.

To its credit, Jumper permits for the inclusion of some very sarcastic and witty comments that serve as nice comic relief throughout the movie.

The movie also takes some unexpected twists and turns to allow for a moderately enjoyable ride. Jumper's ending seems to hint at a sequel, echoing that of the Star Wars trilogy and the action flick Bourne Trinity, but the expectation of such is shaky
based on Jumper's first run.

All in all, the film is an entertaining but too short look at an interesting concept.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools