Have you ever wished that you had the power to go anywhere at any time? If you are a “Jumper” that is your ability. In this Science Fiction Action Adventure based on a novel by Stephen Gould, Jumpers can go anywhere and do pretty much anything that they want.
Teenager David Rice (Max Thieriot) has problems fitting in at school; he is bullied; and called “Rice Bowl.” He has a friend in Millie, (AnnaSophia Robb) but even she can’t keep the others from knocking him around. It is during one of these bully sessions that David learns he can jump anywhere he wants.
This changes his life forever, and the action moves eight years into the future where a wealthy young adult David (Hayden Christensen) is living in a posh New York apartment and going and doing just as he pleases.
He visits London, standing on the clock tower of Big Ben, pops into a pub for some social interaction and then hops back to his apartment.
In the meantime we see scary dude Roland Cox (Samuel L. Jackson) in pursuit of David, but we don’t know why. A chance jump back to his childhood home puts David in contact with old friends and foes. Millie (Rachel Bilson) is all grown up, and David asks her to go to Rome with him (in the conventional way, by plane).
In Rome David meets Griffin (Jamie Bell) another jumper, and the audience learns that the people after the jumpers are called Paladins, and have some sort of religious obsession with destroying the Jumpers. From that point on, it is Griffin, David and Millie, in various chase, capture and escape scenes with local police and the Paladins.
The premise of Jumper is intriguing, as is the entire world being used as the stage for the action. Filming special effects make the jumps believable, whether they are across an ocean or just across a room. The actors have worked hard to make the characters appealing, or frightening as needed.
What the film lacks is a strong story. If one has read the Jumper novel, and the film tie-in material that was published, perhaps the whole thing would make more sense. But as it is, for those who come cold to the film, it is a very confusing set of scenes.
Who is scary Roland Cox and why does he want to kill David? What have David and Griffin done to make them such “wanted” individuals? The audience needs backstory for the Jumper/Paladin connection to follow what is happening, and it is only given in fits and starts without adding much meaning to the film.
There is talk of two more films, and one would hope that if these come about there would be an attempt to give audiences more of the history to make the violence have some reason.
There are several good special features including how the Jumps are made, discussion with the director Doug Liman concerning his use of the world as a backdrop for the action.
It is a novel idea for a superhero, and it would be nice to see and learn more about the Jumper universe.
Jumper (Two-Disc Special Edition) is now available at Amazon . It is available for pre-order at AmazonUK for a June 16th release. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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