AML Movie Review: “Jumper”
Jumper ended up being pretty much what I knew deep down inside it probably would be. But I was too excited to care so I left work and galloped to the theater near my house.
The opening line to Jumper begins with a narration by Hayden Christensen talking about what she’s done so far that day. It involved things like eating a picnic on the Sphinx, surfing in Bali, drinking coffee in some European country and oh yeah, watching the final quarter of Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
All before lunch.
I know this may seem super lame, but when was the last time a Game 4 of an NBA Finals was played BEFORE LUNCH?
Nitpicking at that line may seem a bit too much, but it just ended up being indicative of the rest of the movie.
Jumper was so close, yet something was just off. That bad first line seemed to trickle down to the rest of the film.
The idea and premise of the story was awesome and I’d like to read Steven Gould’s novels upon which Jumper is based on so I might get the real story of what happened.
Christensen stars as David Rice, a kid who learns one day that he can teleport. It happens the first time when he gets trapped under some ice after chasing a snow globe he tried to give to a young Millie, playing by Rachel Bilson.
With an abusive father at home, Rice decides to “jump” himself out of his current situation and into a life of freedom and excitement. He robs banks, stocks up on money and does whatever he wants.
What he doesn’t realize is that a secret, ancient organization called the Paladin like to hunt down and kill jumpers. He soon comes to understand he’s not the only one in the world who can teleport.
Samuel L. Jackson is a top Paladin, although we’re not sure if he’s the leader or not. He’s his usual good self here, although you kind of feel like Jackson is getting a bit too used to roles like this.
The special effects and visuals in the film are stupendous. I really, really enjoyed the jumping from place to place, the way teleporting works and the rules it has. For instance, a jumper needs to study a location and know it before he can jump there. He can do this via a photo, but the main law is that he cannot teleport anywhere that he doesn’t see first.
It also appears that jumping to a place in a photo the first time causes some serious damage around the landing site.
Here is the downside: If the Paladin finds out where your landing sites are…watch out.
There are also rules between jumpers…like teleporting leaves an invisible tear in the air that another jumper can follow through.
The action sequences, the battles, the chase scenes, the science behind it seems pretty sweet.
The potential was there for an awesome mythology but it didn’t quite make it.
If you liked the way The Matrix started, with Neo learning his gifts and discovering his calling, then you’ll be bummed that Jumper couldn’t find the same magic. And it surprises me considering that it was directed by Doug Liman, who was behind The Bourne Ultimatum and Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
The choice of Christensen was a poor one. You need your lead actor in a movie like this to be engaging and dynamic, and neither describe poor Hayden. He tries here, but he just can’t pull off what he needs to in order to really bring Rice to life.
It’s sad really. There is a great superhero story here, but it was all told in a matter-of-fact style and it was nothing special. The discoveries are predictable and the Matrix-like moment we see towards the end was no surprise.
The biggest shocker is that the movie is MADE for a sequel. The ending essentially lays the groundwork for the next film.
Was that good or bad? Probably bad if this film fails miserably and judging from the 18% on Rotten Tomatoes that it’s getting…it could do just that.
I wont lie and say I didn’t have fun in this movie, but I’m the kind of guy who loves to see new ideas in visual effects shown in movies, so that part was great to behold.
But otherwise…it just didn’t live up to what I hoped it could have been. It was just an average film.
AML Rating: C+
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… “but when was the last time a Game 4 of an NBA Finals was played BEFORE LUNCH?” Mo, it was a figure of speech bud.. and besides when he can jump across the world, its before lunch somewhere isnt it regardless when the 4th qtr of the nba finals are…?!?!? Was a good movie, I really liked it… to bad you got hooked somehow on one line that drove the whole thing for you. Next time see it with a friend, makes it more fun…
I also saw Definitley, Maybe, also a good movie… =)
Capn’, that line didn’t ruin the movie for me, but when it was over, I went back to it and saw that it kind of encompassed what was wrong with it.
Even without the line, it wasn’t awesome…the way it was told just felt weak and Hayden left a lot to be desired.
And my Definitely, Maybe review is on its way
oh… well, then, I take it all back =) I agree with you, it wasnt awesome, but it was good.
Well, it made $33 million, so maybe a sequel there will be!
Just went to see it. Not bad for an entertaining hour and a half. There has to be a sequel. Mom chasing her son.
I had a chance to see this movie this weekend…I skipped it because of this review…just so you know…you’re affecting lives Mike.
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made $38 in 5 days, total grosses below (ranked by weekend gross)…
Weekend Box Office
February 15, 2008 - February 18, 2008
1 - Jumper 20th Century Fox $38,325,000
2 - The Spiderwick Chronicles Paramount Pictures $26,775,000
3 - Step Up 2 the Streets Touchstone Pictures Disney $28,116,000
4 1 Fool’s Gold Warner Bros. Pictures $43,975,000
5 - Definitely, Maybe Universal Pictures $14,525,000 1
The filming style of Jumper made me feel like i myself was jumping around, which was cool. Also Christensen’s lines were as short as possible, which was ideal for the movie’s overall quality.
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My son’s been nagging me to take him to see this, but I’ve been resisting, due to poor to lukewarm reviews I’ve seen everywhere.
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Kids like it, so it might be worth it just for him…I dunno.
Feb 18th, 2008 at 7:04 am
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Feb 19th, 2008 at 7:11 am
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