Jumper [Blu-ray] [2008]

RRP £28.99 Lowest New Price £17.98

Suitable for 15 years and over 20th Century Fox Release date: Monday 16th of June 2008 Starring: Diane Lane, Samuel L. Jackson, Rachel Bilson, Hayden Christensen, Jamie Bell, Director(s): Format: Widescreen, Region code: 2 Running time: 88 minutes Language: English (Original Language) Language: Spanish (Original Language) Language: Italian (Original Language)

RRP: £28.99
Editorial
Product Description

Hayden Christensen, Samuel L. Jackson, Diane Lane, Jamie Bell, Rachel Bilson

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Editorial
Amazon.com

As preposterous action movies go, Jumper is pleasantly unpretentious and breezily entertaining. A young man named David (Hayden Christensen) discovers he has the power to teleport (or "jump") anywhere he can visualize. After using this power to steal and make a comfortable life for himself, he pursues the girl he longed for in school (Rachel Bilson, The O. C.). But as he does so, another jumper (Jamie Bell, Billy Elliot) and a pack of fanatical jumper-hunters called paladins (led by a white-haired Samuel L. Jackson) crashes into David's freewheeling life. Jumper wastes no time trying to explain how jumping works or delving into the hows and whys of the paladins; this is an alluring fantasy of power directed at a pell-mell pace by Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Go). There's a brief moment when it feels like the movie will bog down in romance and vague gestures towards character development--happily, that's the moment when Bell appears and the whole movie shifts into overdrive. You might wish that Bell and Christensen had swapped roles; Bell has a far more engaging personality, and Christensen's bland good looks might better suit a more aggressive character. Nonetheless, Jumper has oodles of dynamism and nifty visual effects to propel its comic-book storyline forward. A variety of recognizable actors in bit parts (such as Diane Lane and Kristen Stewart, Panic Room) suggest that the filmmakers are laying the groundwork for sequels. Based on a critically-acclaimed science-fiction novel by Steven Gould. --Bret Fetzer, Amazon.com

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Editorial
Synopsis

Based on Steven Gould's critically acclaimed novel, JUMPER leaps onto the screen courtesy of director Doug Liman. David (Hayden Christiansen, STAR WARS – EPISODE 3 – REVENGE OF THE SITH) has inexplicably been given the power to teleport himself, or jump. He can jump into a bank vault, then to the top of the Sphinx, then back to his luxury Manhattan apartment. But despite all his power, he still misses his childhood love, Millie (Rachel Bilson, THE O.C.). When the opportunity arises, David jets off to Rome with Millie, but it's not all romance in the Italian city. David's unique abilities place him in the middle of a war between the jumpers and the paladins, a secretive group intent on hunting down the teleporters. Led by Roland (Samuel L. Jackson), the paladins track David and fellow jumper Griffin (Jamie Bell) across the world, and Millie may be caught in the crossfire.
JUMPER moves as fast as its teleporting hero, condensing the novel into a slim, action-packed offering. The slick special effects and impressive locations are certainly on par with Liman's previous work in THE BOURNE IDENTITY and MR. AND MRS. SMITH, but JUMPER bears a closer resemblance to comic book adaptations. Like most comic book protagonists with unearthly abilities, David grapples with his newfound talents. But unlike his tights-and-cape-wearing brethren, David doesn't use his ability for the greater good. Instead, it gets him piles of money and, perhaps, the girl he's been dreaming of since he was five years old. Though most action films are driven by the struggle between good and evil, JUMPER interestingly offers up a central character who lies somewhere in the middle.

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Entertaining if empty
Review date: 2008-08-22 Rating: 6 out of 10

It's a good, fun action movie with 2007's best special effect gimmick. Christiansen makes some amends for Star Wars here, but it's Jamie Bell who steals the show.

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