Jumper

The biggest reason why I wanted to see “Jumper” was to see Hayden Christensen in a role other than that of Anakin Skywalker. The first time I saw the film, I wasn’t thrilled. After seeing it a second time, I understand the problems that this movie has. They mostly have to do with story. There were no problems with Doug Liman’s direction and as actors; it is hard to work with a script that has flaws. This movie deals with the great idea of teleporting but the conflicts and drama were for the most part not appealing for the audience.

The story is not completely full of flaws but the mistakes outnumber the good points. The problems with the story are seen very early on. The character of David is established but the way it was done felt cliché. Also, these establishing scenes did not feel real even though the opening scenes are written so as to be relatable. The meeting of Roland and David occours too soon for me and something else story-wise should have been invented to persuade David to return to Ann Arbor & to Millie. I also feel that the fight in the Coliseum should have been David’s introduction to the Paladins. The film was not very funny and amusing when you compare it with “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”. The ending felt like it didn’t have much of a climax either. It is clear by the end of the movie that room has been left for a sequel but you should not do this so obviously with an original film. There are many examples of trilogies where the first film did leave room for sequels but at the same time had enough resolution for the film to stand on its own if need be. “The Matrix” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” are two such examples that come to mind. By the first 10 minutes of the movie, David is past much of the learning stage of teleporting and that is another story flaw of “Jumper”. The whole movie should involved David learning to use his power because I feel that it is more engaging. The ending is where he should have finished his primary learning stage. This is the kind of story that we saw in “Ghost” for example and it worked. The story as mentioned has some good things such as the development of the relationship between David and Millie. I also like the drama that David has in keeping his ability a secret from her. The film’s portrayal of the advantages of teleporting is affective and the movie does get better as we move towards the end.

The acting and directing are fine in this movie but better decisions could have been made and the story problems affected both the acting and directing. To best illustrate this point, I will compare “Jumper” to two other Liman movies: “Mr. and Mrs. Smith and “The Bourne Identity”. Those movies were hit shows but yet the direction of Liman wasn’t any different than this film. Also, those two films had A-list stars that included Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. The lack of A-list stars in this film may be a reason why “Jumper” is not as good. Other actors that were in line to play David were Heath Ledger and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I did not have a huge problem with Hayden’s acting but the story did not give him any room to reach his full potential. His performance as Anakin was quite powerful because he was working with a powerful story from Lucas. He is reunited with Samuel L. Jackson in this film but their characters didn’t clash enough to make things fully enjoyable. Jamie Bell was the best actor in this film. I like every role of his that I have seen and I am really looking forward to his work in the future.

I have heard some stupid ideas on the net for sequels to “Jumper” and my advice would be to give up any attempt for a sequel. Otherwise, you will embarrass yourself. The basic idea for this film was solid and the acting was okay. The direction that Liman went with was just fine but the story is what damaged this film. The attention should always be on the story first because that is the main purpose of a film: to tell a story, not to showcase actors, special effects and locations.

2 Stars