Jumper is a dumb superhero movie ruining its high-concept sci-fi/fantasy premise with a weak script.
David (Hayden Christensen) can teleport around the world at will, so he robs banks, visits exotic locales and seduces hot hicks, including his High School Love (Rachel Bilson); so-called "Paladins" led by Roland (a slumming Samuel L. Jackson) hunt for him.
Christensen and Bilson complement each other perfectly, meaning they are both good-looking and boring, staring at disappearing people and mysterious assassins with casual bafflement. Jackson needs more movies worthy of his talent before he joins the list of sell-out celebrities and we get to see him in "Meet the (Mother)Fockers 3".
Since we have no reason to sympathize with the leads, there is ultimately nothing at stake. What's funny is, Paladins seem quite correct: David is a thief and the other "Jumper" we meet, Griffin (Jamie Bell), no model citizen either. Sadly, the movie just delivers these unlikable protagonists and expects us to root for them because... hey, it's in the script. A better film would have focused on Griffin and Roland, giving them more depth and continuously challenging our allegiances.
Even sillier is how Jumpers are ludicrously overpowered compared to their hunters. They are like Nightcrawler with cheat codes, able to get everywhere on Earth in a split-second. Since the movie informs us Paladins have been persecuting Jumpers since the Middle Ages, one has to wonder HOW, since the only effective weapons against them involve high-tech gadgets.
Let's be kind and call this one a mess.
4/10.
David (Hayden Christensen) can teleport around the world at will, so he robs banks, visits exotic locales and seduces hot hicks, including his High School Love (Rachel Bilson); so-called "Paladins" led by Roland (a slumming Samuel L. Jackson) hunt for him.
Christensen and Bilson complement each other perfectly, meaning they are both good-looking and boring, staring at disappearing people and mysterious assassins with casual bafflement. Jackson needs more movies worthy of his talent before he joins the list of sell-out celebrities and we get to see him in "Meet the (Mother)Fockers 3".
Since we have no reason to sympathize with the leads, there is ultimately nothing at stake. What's funny is, Paladins seem quite correct: David is a thief and the other "Jumper" we meet, Griffin (Jamie Bell), no model citizen either. Sadly, the movie just delivers these unlikable protagonists and expects us to root for them because... hey, it's in the script. A better film would have focused on Griffin and Roland, giving them more depth and continuously challenging our allegiances.
Even sillier is how Jumpers are ludicrously overpowered compared to their hunters. They are like Nightcrawler with cheat codes, able to get everywhere on Earth in a split-second. Since the movie informs us Paladins have been persecuting Jumpers since the Middle Ages, one has to wonder HOW, since the only effective weapons against them involve high-tech gadgets.
Let's be kind and call this one a mess.
4/10.