DVD Review: Jumper

A genetic anomaly allows a young man to teleport himself anywhere. He discovers this gift has existed for centuries and finds himself in a war that has raged for thousands of years between “Jumpers” and those who have sworn to kill them.

Review:
Jumper starts out in typical comic book fashion, focused on a young man named David. In a freak occurrence, he discovers he can “jump” through space or teleport while he attempts to save a gift he purchased for love interest Millie, the girl next door. Emboldened by this discovery, he sets off for New York City to escape his small town and troubled home life. Fast forward eight years and David (Hayden Christensen) has made a comfortable life for himself by teleporting into bank vaults and “borrowing” the money he wants to live a life of leisure. But his lazy days are over when Roland (Samuel L. Jackson), who has been tracking David’s crimes and hunting him down, breaks into David’s apartment to kill him. David returns to Millie (Rachel Bilson) which, of course, brings her into Roland’s sights as someone near and dear to our hero, putting her in harm’s way. David ends up meeting another Jumper, Griffin, who kind of explains that Roland is part of the Paladin, a religious sect hundreds of years old whose purpose is to hunt and kill Jumpers.

That’s all the explanation that’s given! From here, Jumper’s only entertaining and followable qualities were the special effects because the plot became predictable and the performances uninspiring and static.

There were two major problems with the flick: one, the chemistry between Christensen and Bilson left much to be desired. Two: the filmmakers left too much unexplained in hopes of doing so in a potential sequel. This resulted in the latter third of the movie feeling cookie cutter and hurried. While usually a fan of director Doug Liman, I’m greatly disappointed to have seen this film start strong and interesting only to fizzle into predictable drivel.

Review by Marie Holzer

Grade: C-
Official site: http://www.jumperthemovie.com/
Buy on Amazon: Jumper