Feb 28, 2008 04:04 AM
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Opening as the top third in movie sales at the box office, one would expect a real blockbuster. I suppose it depends on what you would define a blockbuster to be. Jumper has action and some commendable visual effects but falls short by its superficial storyline and acting.
The story begins with a shy high school boy, David Rice who has a crush on Millie(AnnaSophia Robb). He gives her a snow globe with the Eiffel Tower inside and soon after, bully Mark(Jesse James) takes it from her and throws it far onto an iced-over lake. Devastated, David chases after it and as expected, falls through the ice. Suddenly, he finds himself catapulted through the water, winding up in the Ann Arbor public library with books, debris and water all around him. Returning home, he is desparate to leave his life, miserable father(Michael Rooker) and “jumps” to freedom with empty pockets and a chance to change his life.
A couple of years later, Rice, (now played by Hayden Christiansen) has perfected the art of jumping and after stealing a lot of money from a bank vault by teleporting himself has the means to enjoy life. From his swanky apartment to travels around the world: Surfing in Fiji, napping atop Mt Everest, and lunching at the Sphinx in Cairo amidst the Great Pyramids of Giza, he has found an idealic life.
Yet the journey is just beginning…Rice finds that he is not the only Jumper when he encounters Griffin(Jamie Bell) and the two evade the Paladins, those who are sworn to kill all the Jumpers. Roland(Samuel L Jackson) is the main goon and is sensational looking with his platinum hair and grimacing face. Roland has been determined to capture and kill Rice since the bank vault heist and through countless trips to Italy, New York, Michigan and everywhere in between, it is Jumper vs. Paladin. In the end, of course Rice is victorious and the answers that he seeks are his next chapter: The search for his mother who left him as a young child. He comes across her in his travels, but her appearance is not yet explained.
The storyline had great potential, but overshadowed by a poor and superficial screenplay. What a great idea to be able to teleport through time and space to see and experience all of life’s wonders. What this movie had was a great start that segued into a contrived and over done plot. The action and cinematography were exceptional. The scenes of battle between Jumpers and Paladins were either too long or too short and just fell short of expectation. I really expected so much more from such promise. Many of the subplots were not defined well or were just cheesy. Diane Lane, who played his mother was quite underutilized and when the reason for her leaving her son at age five was just anticlimactic.
Casting Hayden Christianson as the lead was brilliant. He is hot and played the part well, but was lost in poor writing. His love interest, the older Millie(Rachel Bilson) was lackluster and the two had little chemistry. Samuel L Jackson was a great villain but yet again, lacked the weight due to poor writing.
So who are the big movie-goers that brought in third place earnings? Kids! Particularly age 10+ who will love the action, visual effects and simple plot. Be ware that the movie has a PG-13 rating but the “F” Word is used once, followed by the “Flip Off” and some mild nudity.
Overall, I chose to see this film with 2 Ten year olds who had a great time and it was a better choice than The Spiderwick Chronicles, which was also playing at the cinema and I would have heard more complaints there. Don’t expect a review from me on that one, the buzz is to miss it(even though it earned the number 2 sales at the box office)!
