Where do you want to go today? (film only) (Jumper (DVD))

Member Name: calypte

Product:	Jumper (DVD)
Date:	18/06/08 (127 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice superpower, nicely anti-superhero

Disadvantages: Poor casting, could have been better

Anywhere is possible... at least, if you're a Jumper - an individual born with the super-power-esque ability to teleport yourself to just about anywhere. Meet David Rice (Hayden Christensen): one of the lucky individuals able to do just that. Cue almost a decade of the ultimate playboy lifestyle: the intro quickly introduces us to a typical day for David, jumping between breakfast in Paris, surfing in Hawaii, before a spot of sunbathing on top of Egypt's Sphinx. Oh yes, life is good.

I admit, the biggest appeal to me with this movie was the imagination of the jumping ability: this has become my new favourite superpower would-like-to-have! :) Although, another big draw is that this is NOT your average superhero movie. Don't get me wrong, I rather like those. Sometimes. But it's so much more refreshing to have a film where the individual imbued with special powers decides not to use them for the good of all mankind - check the fab scene near the start, where David is watching the news on TV showing a catastrophic flood. At this point, Superman would already be out of the window in his tights, but our Davie just flicks the TV off ;)

I've seen an interview with Director Doug Liman (most famous for The Bourne Identity), where he revealed his intent to make his hero as anti-super as possible. How far, he asked, can you push the selfishness of the character and still have the audience's buy-in? Personally, I relished the novel approach; however, I can see some people might be utterly turned off by a lead who uses his gift to make a quick getaway the morning after... and to rob banks. Well, honestly, would you really waste your time trying to hold down a boring day job if you didn't *have* to?!

Of course, into every perfect lifestyle a little turmoil must arrive - at least, if you want any kind of storyline! Two threads are introduced here: a not-very-great romance, as David meets up with his high school crush again; and the more exciting element of finding there are other Jumpers - and a whole sect determined to wipe them all out!

Most reviews I've read about this are pretty negative. How uncharismatic Christensen is - personally I do find him a tad bland, but nothing awful; how terrible the SFX were - really? I found them perfectly fine, all things considered!; and how confusing it was trying to follow the jumps in location, as the fights moved through place and time zones - again, absolutely not a problem for me, and in fact those were definitely the most exciting and visually interesting scenes. Add to that my complete disagreement with the marketing tagline: "Bourne meets Matrix" - utter nonsense! The Bourne link is purely in the director. The Matrix? Urm... pass. What?! So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I took this film entirely on my own terms and found it to be rather fun!

Of course, that leads to a similar situation as the one I found with The Chronicles of Riddick. Don't worry - the films are completely dissimilar, apart from the fact that they are quite obviously meant to be the first in a series - a trilogy in Jumper's case, I've heard. I'm still waiting to hear if there might be a possible Jumper sequel; however my fear is that it'll go the same way as CoR: not received well enough for the second part to be given a chance.

And that's a shame, as far as I'm concerned, as I did enjoy the mindless fun and the possibilities of where to jump to, as well as the emerging threats (and a twist at the end!) spoiling what would otherwise be a pretty darn good life. That said, I do wonder how much more there is to take from the story: we've explored the set up, we've jumped to some cool locations. I suppose it entirely depends on what storyline might come next: here is very much more of an introduction rather than a fully-fledged story.

That said, I do suspect that I'd like to see the next film come with a new cast. Although I said Christensen wasn't that bad as far as I was concerned, he certainly isn't a great actor (nor do I find him particularly pretty!). As laid-back David Rice he's certainly a much better fit than as the more complex Anakin Skywalker. He also looks entirely lively and charismatic... in comparison to the awful Rachel Bilson, who I just couldn't stand. She's *awful* in this movie, struggling to even be competent as an actor - sorry! Perhaps the boys thought she looked pretty enough to cover the clunky, wooden performance? Really, all she manages is to make Christensen look good - which is instantly lost as soon as Jamie Bell makes an appearance. Definitely the strongest performance in the film, Bell is both believable and interesting as his character. Playing another Jumper, he actually made the 'gift' - and its downsides - more believable than the David Rice character sleepwalking through a playboy lifestyle. Actually, the interaction between his street-smart Griffin and the bewildered Rice work very well.

Finally on the cast, Samuel L Jackson is here, being his usual cool self, with just a hint of Pulp Fiction-ness creeping into the performance. He's... okay-ish, but apart from the silver hair I can't say much stood out for me.

So, overall I can well agree that this film is far from perfect. Of the four main characters I only liked one, and was indifferent to two. The special effects were generally slated, which makes me a tad wary of saying I thought the film looked pretty good! The locations perhaps aren't as stunning as the scope of the film gives room for, although I just loved the extended Coliseum scenes so much I'm willing to forgive if a location flicked past isn't particularly impressive. Mainly, though, the story is very much a secondary thought to exploring this 'new' superpower. And yet - I loved the idea. I thought there was enough hinting in the plot to allow for further development (i.e. a sequel!) and a better exploration of the world of the Jumpers. Just, recast, please? ;)

Final word: a great deal of fun, albeit easy enough to pick holes in if that's what you really want to do. Otherwise it's great popcorn fodder, allowing the ponderings of "where would I go?", and refreshingly anti the normal superhero mold.



Boring bits:
Running time: 84 minutes
Rating: 15

Full cast details available on imdb.co.uk

Summary: Anywhere is possible... but not quite living up to the possibilities