jumper_hero_420

Hi. Hubster and I quite liked this film, but we both had one distinct feeling after it had finished which I will share with you later. Jumper has had a bit of bad press (I never listen to these much now as I liked the Da Vinci Code and hated Superman Returns) so I was surprised a little when I thought it was quite good.

jumper2
Yes! This is my Peter Parker moment  - I can jump to that tree over there...

We first meet David in High School when he realises that he has the ability to immediately transport himself to anywhere he has been and seen before and, later, this becomes anywhere in the world. It's played really well by a young actor called Max Thieriot. If he was old enough, he could probably have played Hayden's part just as well, if not better. Definitely a touch of the Marvel Peter Parker copy-cat intro to a film though. Still, not a huge problem there, still done quite well.

So what does David do with his new skill? Robs banks of course, generally becoming a bit of a jet-setting playboy. It's clear that his abandonment issues have led him not to consider saving the world with his new found skill and enjoys kicking back in a flash apartment in New York jumping to the remote because he's 3 inches too far away from it and surfing. That is, until Samuel L Jackson turns up (and we all know when he's a baddie in a movie that is generally a thing to be scared of) announcing that he kills his kind and enjoys it to. Oh, and I realised Sam was his old nemesis from Star Wars days - a bit of payback!

jumper4
I think you'll find this is my natural hair colour M-F-

Hayden Christiansen is OK in this, luckily doesn't go through with the full Anakin ham up. His girlfriend (perhaps a little too easily seduced by a guy she hasn't seen in years, although a first class ticket to Rome I guess was her price ) was good, never heard of her. Apparently in a programme call OC , which is probably an updated Dawson's Creek for all I know. Samuel L Jackson bulges his eyes out when he gets pissed off (as usual, he's very good). The disappointment was Jamie Bell, of King Kong and Billy Elliot fame. It's not that he can't deliver the goods acting wise (although it seemed at some points that he was trying too hard)  - it's his accent. He can't decide whether he's Queen's English, from Yorkshire, Newcastle or Northern Ireland, it bugged me every time he spoke. It meant he almost mumbled his lines, and I couldn't catch all of it. Pick one already! He was a bit of an annoying character and I didn't feel much sympathy for him.

jumper1
Jamie Bell - annoying (with a bum fluff beard)

jumpergirl
Hi there - haven't seen you in 5 years. So - flew you to Rome first class, here's the Colosseum - will you put out now?

The effects were good, as you would expect and one particular fight near the end was well executed, although by the end of the film, you were thinking - yes, OK, you can jump already. Use a door! Jumping the bus was cool though.

Well, a bit of a brain-in-neutral film, some lovely sets (Colosseum, yum!), fair acting, eye candy all round, good effects, interesting story with an OK twist, but nothing mind boggling. And that thought me and Hubster had? That it felt like a film pilot for a TV show, just as with Stargate or Buffy. The premise of the Jumper on the run combined with the twist at the end probably would make for an excellent TV series, rather than a film sequel, which would probably be a bit lame.

Overall 7/10.

Best Bit: Jump fight between Hayden and Jamie and jumping the bus.

Here's the trailer: