Jumper

Anywhere is possible in JUMPER, but most people who see the film will wish they were somewhere else. A dismal and disappointing distraction from director Doug Liman, who has taken a step back from his previous action successes (THE BOURNE IDENTITY and MR. AND MRS. SMITH) thanks to a shoddy script, muddled performances and a too-frenetic editing job.

David Rice (Max Thieriot) is the typical picked-on kid in high school. Broken family, poor social skills, and a crush on the most intriguing girl in school. When a potentially sweet moment becomes a life-threatening trip into an icy lake, David suddenly finds himself transported to the local library. With the revelatory line, “Did I just teleport?” (Which is what I say whenever I can’t remember how I got somewhere), David realizes he has a gift; he is a Jumper. He grows into a wealthy young man (now played by Hayden Christensen), thanks to his ability to jump into banks undetected. But soon he finds a league of deadly stalkers (led by a white-haired Samuel L. Jackson) on his tail, and he must fight to save himself and the one girl for him (Rachel Bilson).

David becomes superhero-like with his ability to instantly appear anywhere, and often makes reference to it (this comes as little surprise, since the film was co-written by one of Hollywood’s resident comic geeks, David S. Goyer). But as the plot develops, viewers are left with a, “yes, and…?” feeling. David’s only real ability is to teleport. Nothing else about him is remarkable; in most cases, he is even unable to make competent decisions. This likely explains the rushed nature of the film; at only 88 minutes, it only barely scratches the surface of its possibilities. The film’s blink-and-miss-it climax is the most criminal act. The final showdown doesn’t last much longer than two minutes. What we see is probably all the filmmakers could think of, and it certainly is disappointing, since David is adamant about not resorting to violence to save himself. One wonders whether he does this out of the goodness of his heart, or if it is completely unbelievable than Christensen could actually defeat Samuel L. Jackson in a fight.

Which brings us to the cast. While the parts aren’t challenging in the least, with every character filling one of the action film archetypes, the performers don’t do any favors. Christensen has improved since his Star Wars days, but he still hasn’t proven himself dynamic enough to secure his spot in stardom. Jackson and Bilson are only serviceable; the former being moderately menacing while the latter is relegated to pouting most of the time. The only bright spot in the cast is Jamie Bell, playing a squirrelly fellow Jumper. Bell, who manages to actually get laughs out of his lines, rises above the material with ease, committing himself to having fun rather than being serious. He has long been touted as one of the next big things, and his performance here is only more evidence for the case.

Liman’s action sequences, which were smooth and thrilling in films past, are jumbled and confusing here. The jumping effects, often occurring several times in a shot, are impressive, but when the editing becomes too frenetic and the camera becomes too shaky to make sense of much, we are left to wait distantly to see how things turn out. The rather short length of these sequences worsens the situation; more often than not, the action is over before the audience is really given a chance to get into it. Though when a person can just teleport away from his attackers instead of risking harm, I suppose it’s justified. But who wants to see a movie about that?

*1/2/****