Having the ability to transport wherever you want whenever you want sounds like the greatest thing ever. Broke? Teleport into a bank vault and your problems are solved. Hate someone? Take them to the middle of the Antarctic and return without them. Life would be so much simpler then. Or would it?
David Rice is your average American kid, growing up in a broken home (his mother left when he was 5 years-old and his dad loves alcohol more than life itself) and being bullied in school. Everything seems to be going normal until he falls through ice into a river. An obvious freak-out ensues, as the current pulls him downstream under the ice, which ignites something in him he never knew he had.
Next thing David knows, he lying on the ground in the Ann Arbor Public Library. Confused at first, he soon discovers how to control his teleporting power. So he disappears from his hometown and travels the world, robbing banks and such, before settling down in New York City. He robs banks (without having to break down doors or safes) and stashes the cash in a secret compartment in his fancy apartment.
Jumper then becomes more of a set-up for the inevitable sequel than what it should have been in the first place: a film on it’s own. David (now played by Hayden Christensen) soon figures out he is chased by Roland (Samuel Jackson with painfully bad shiny white hair), “a Paladin” who spends his life exterminating “Jumpers.” He finds out other Jumpers exist when Griffin (Jamie Bell) pops out of nowhere and warns him of the foreseeable destruction.
The film feels no different than any other from director Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity). Though he has handled a few big budget action flicks by now, the same production mistakes are evident. The action is rather chaotic and messy, which isn’t helped much from the choppy editing.
Scribes Jim Uhls (Fight Club), David S. Goyer (Dark City), and Simon Kindberg (Mr. and Mrs. Smith) tackle the adaptation of the novel by Steven Gould. All writers involved understand the superhero formula rather well and have fun presenting a familiar premise (that of transporting characters) into an entertaining ride. But perhaps it’s all too familiar. You won’t hate watching it but you won’t exactly want to think about it too much afterwards. If you do, you’ll bring about the end of its enjoyment.
