Jumper

[areaseven]

Jumper
New Regency Productions/20th Century Fox, 2008
Directed by Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Mr. & Mrs. Smith)
Based on the novel by Steven Gould
Running Time: 90 minutes
Rated PG-13 for violence, mature situations and strong language.

Cast
Hayden Christensen (the man who nearly destroyed Star Wars) as David Rice
Rachel Bilson (Summer in The O.C.) as Millie Harris
Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot) as Griffin
Samuel L. Jackson (the most overused actor today) as Roland Cox
Michael Rooker (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer) as William Rice
Diane Lane (Christopher Lambert's ex-wife) as Mary Rice

"You think you can go on like this forever? Living like this without consequences? There's always consequences." - Roland Cox

Synopsis
David Rice is a Jumper - a person with the abilities to teleport anywhere from one side of a room to London, Egypt, or just about anywhere on a travel magazine. After years of using his abilities to rob banks and enjoy the great outdoors, he jumps back to his old hometown of Ann Arbor, MI, to reunite his childhood girlfriend Millie. When they travel to Rome, David finds out he's not alone when he bumps into another Jumper named Griffin. He also finds himself in the middle of a secret war with the Paladins - a group of religious fanatics who have been hunting down Jumpers for centuries.

Lowdown
Why is it that almost every movie year kicks off with an over-budgeted, overrated box-office stinker? This year, we have Jumper, a movie with absolutely no redeeming value. The concept is good, but like many Hollywood film adaptations, it's poorly executed. The storyline is flat and predictable, and the acting is just unbearably bad. And I haven't even talked about Hayden Christensen, who still can't act his way out of a paper bag after ruining the last two Star Wars films. Both Samuel L. Jackson and Diane Lane wasted their time on this film, as none of the characters were developed enough to peak anyone's interest in this movie.

Visual effects were done by New Zealand-based Weta Workshop (The Lord of the Rings trilogy, King Kong), which are good, but wasted on this POS film. As a matter of fact, the only noticeable visual eye candy is Rachel Bilson.

In short, don't even bother renting or torrenting Jumper at all.

Rating: F

DVD Extras: B
The 2-disc Special Edition DVD includes a behind-the-scenes featurette, an alternate introduction sequence and an illustrated prequel feature (similar to the not-so-animated Transformers: Beginnings). Disc 2 is a digital copy of the film that you can transfer to your iPod or MP3 player.

Links
Official Jumper Homepage

Reference
The Internet Movie Database Edited April 21, 2015 by areaseven

[wm cheng]

Ok, Ok... it wasn't the hit we all hope for, but...

Yours truely designed all the sets in the movie!! It was one of the best work experiences I've had in the industry in a while, met some really great people. Yes, the acting wasn't that great, but the original script was fantastic. It changed so much from conception to final exhibition. I can tell you though, the art department designed wonders, worked our asses off, and built fantastic things what were shot, but never made it into the film. In fact, there was enough shot to make 2 movies, but I don't know the reasons why so much was edited out.

One of the parts most proud for me was the Colosseum build, I thought it was a pretty seamless transitions from the location of the actual Colosseum in Rome (the only film company to ever be granted access to it, they even denied Roman Holiday) to our soundstage construction in Toronto.

I know it wasn't the greatest piece of celluloid, but a Macross Fanatic designed most if not all the built sets, so we can be a little less "brutal" on these boards here ok? Maybe it might get a life in rentals... (there was a whole section filmed in Tokyo in a high end physics particle accelerator lab where I plastered the graphics with tons of stuff from Macross data stenciling - even the portable scar generator device has the main pull from a Valkyrie's circular vernier thruster, you might see it if you go frame by frame on the DVD!)

[areaseven]

Wow. I didn't realize that. Great job on designing the sets, wm cheng.

[lord_breetai]

I didn't think it was that bad... and Hayden wasn't horrible in it... though it's not his best performance (which was in Life as a house)

[SuperHobo]

I didn't think it was that bad... and Hayden wasn't horrible in it... though it's not his best performance (which was in Life as a house)

Just watched it a few minutes ago and I didn't think the movie was terrible. However the story could of been so much better and the acting talent wasn't drawn out well with the script. However the effects were pretty decent and the set looks fantastic. A little shaky camera angles at times, but nothing a certain monster movie that came out recently. Overall a decent rental to fulfill a lazy Saturday night.

[Keith]

Trying watching it, made it most of the way with 20 minutes left, then stopped pretending to care & watched something else.

[myk]

Bought this on blu-ray the day it was released, haven't watched it since. Now, I don't think I ever will...

[Scream Man]

I hear it summed up to me as "The best TV pilot ever". which is how it felt to me too; I felty like I saw the movie length premiere of what could be a really good show!

[Ladic]

horrible movie, christiensen stiff and emotionless as always.

[sqidd]

The shots of his high school were taken at my high school. It's Ann Arbor Huron High. I thougt that was pretty cool.

I also used to go out with a girl that lived on the street that he did near the water tower.

All in all I thought it was entertaining. It was missing an ending though. It was watching a long TV show. The theme of the movie could be made to work very well I think. I hope they come out with a part II and continue on the same storyline.

[Guest sh002]

roland and david should have pulled out their lightsabers.

[areaseven]

The theme of the movie could be made to work very well I think. I hope they come out with a part II and continue on the same storyline.

Since Jumper actually made a profit, there are talks of a sequel in the works. It supposedly will be based on Reflex (the sequel to the original novel). Unfortunately, this means we'll have to put up with Hayden Christensen once again.

[Apollo Leader]

I saw it back during the winter. As Scream Man mentioned, it has the feeling of being a pilot episode for a TV show. Early on in the movie when Hayden's character is in his apartment and the TV news was showing a variety of natural disasters, I couldn't but help think that his powers could be put to good use in those situations. Unfortunately the movie never carried through fully in having his character going from a selfish life of crimeand using his powers for good. If that had been better fleshed out by the end of the movie, I think the movie would have turn out better then it did.

[Valkyrie addict]

woa, the master did some prop work...I'm gonna rent the movie...just cause of you, wasn't really drawn to the plot

[lord_breetai]

I hear it summed up to me as "The best TV pilot ever". which is how it felt to me too; I felty like I saw the movie length premiere of what could be a really good show!

Nah, I still think Lois and Clark has the best pilot episode ever.

[Scream Man]

that was a good pilot, its true...

[wolfx]

The trailer was awesome....the movie wasn't.

[Chewie]

My friends and I liked it.

Oh well.

[myk]

Since Jumper actually made a profit, there are talks of a sequel in the works. It supposedly will be based on Reflex (the sequel to the original novel). Unfortunately, this means we'll have to put up with Hayden Christensen once again.

NNOOOOOOOoooooooooo!!!!!!

[badboy00z]

I saw it back during the winter. As Scream Man mentioned, it has the feeling of being a pilot episode for a TV show. Early on in the movie when Hayden's character is in his apartment and the TV news was showing a variety of natural disasters, I couldn't but help think that his powers could be put to good use in those situations. Unfortunately the movie never carried through fully in having his character going from a selfish life of crimeand using his powers for good. If that had been better fleshed out by the end of the movie, I think the movie would have turn out better then it did.

I thought he was going to help those people when that happened but I was disappointed.

[the white drew carey]

I read the book when I was really young. It wasn't too bad. This movie has less in common with the book than Starship Troopers did with its original source material.

[PetarB]

Contrary to some of your experiences, I actually enjoyed this movie. I would have seen the sequel too, if one had been greenlighted. I quite liked how they took a non-superhero approach to super-hero style powers.

[myk]

The idea of the story was intriguing enough for me so that I could overlook Anakin's bad screen presence.

People make the claim that this movie didn't have its characters or story "fleshed out" properly, but alot of them probably don't realize that Jumper is supposed to be part 1 of a trilogy of Jumper movies. If that's the case, then they've got two more shots at defining the people and story to a satisfactory level.

I'm certainly not Roger Ebert, but in my opinion this movie isn't as "bad" as everyone's panned it out to be and deserves to be seen, at least...

[Scream Man]

I dont hold to that. Lots of films which are part of a trilogy manage to make the first film good whilst still leaving room for more. A good film, especially a first film, should close off its story within the film itself, and then leave more open for further sequals.

[myk]

Agreed. I'm keeping a hopeful, open mind for a movie that's gotten more negative criticism than it should have, IMO...