Jumper

Jumper – When teenager, David Rice, discovers an ability to transport himself anywhere in the world in an instant, his small world suddenly opens up. Leaving home and robbing banks to fund his new lifestyle, he spends several years perfecting his transportation skills and living a luxurious life. Unfortunately his ‘jumping’ attracts the attention of a secret society, The Paladins, led by Roland Cox who are sworn to kill everyone with the same abilities as David. Soon, David realises that he can’t simply keep jumping from his problems but will he be able to defeat the organised and prepared Paladins?

Jumper (2008) – Director: Doug Limon

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14036497

Rating: 12

Running Length: 88 mins

Starring: Hayden Christensen, Jamie Bell, Samuel L. Jacksnon

Genre: Action/Adventure, Science Fiction

REVIEW: JUMPER

Hayden Christensen got a lot of flack for his somewhat bland portrayal of the teenaged Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels so ‘Jumper’ was his chance to branch out into a new role, away from other-worldly/fantastical sci-fi. David Rice is a normal young man who suddenly discovers he has teleporting powers when he falls through a frozen lake and ends up in a nearby library.

While Christensen isn’t the most engaging lead, the main trouble with Jumper is the weak plot and poorly written characters. David’s father, for example, is a man who David heavily implies is abusive but, other than shouting at him once, actually appears to be a loving parent who is frustrated by David’s teen angst, whilst deeply affected by the sudden and unexplained departure of his wife years before. The opportunity to delve into this complex character and offer him some form of understanding or redemption was possible but instead, a lazy ‘abuse’ storyline is skimmed over, simply to show why David is keen to leave home.

The movie seems to want to make David a better character than he actually is. He may be the down-trodden protagonist but his arrogance is off-putting; he never learns anything, he makes unrealistic decisions (after a violent confrontation with antagonist, Roland Cox, he forgets about it and goes on holiday) and let’s face it, he’ll never repay the banks he robs so why does the movie make a point of saying he intends to? Unfortunately, the movie skips the first few years of him living with his powers (we don’t get to see him learning what he can and can’t do, making mistakes, understanding the importance of his ‘gift’, growing as a person, etc), we just see him living a (boring) luxurious lifestyle – which he funds by robbing banks – but we are expected to relate to him and like him.

Sadly, all of this makes David by far the least interesting character in the movie and it would have been so much more fun to have followed the antics of Griffin (Jamie Bell), another young man who can teleport but who has known about his abilities for longer and treads a fine line between ‘good’ and, well, ‘not so good’. Griffin sparkles with charisma but his barely concealed pent up anger adds plenty of edge and the movie instantly improves whenever he’s on-screen.

While ‘Jumper’ is an alright action film that could have been so much better, if we had been given the full story of Griffin, I have a feeling that we would have been treated to something a little bit special!

CONTENT: IS ‘JUMPER’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

While at school, David is regularly annoyed by a bully. He gives a girl he likes a snow globe as a gift but the bully takes it and throws it onto the middle of a frozen lake. David then goes out to get it, falling through the ice in the process. This is the first time he becomes aware of his ability to transport himself as he suddenly appears in a local library.

In a voiceover, David says ‘Mum left when I was 5. As for my dad…let’s just say he wasn’t much of one’. This implies that David’s father is neglectful and/or abusive and, when he gets home, his father yells at him and follows him upstairs, banging on his bedroom door. David seems indifferent to this though and he is unfazed by his dad’s behaviour so this is unlikely to be too upsetting.

David begins to rob banks by teleporting in and out, with the intention of returning the money. However, for eight years he lives an extremely lavish lifestyle and has clearly made no attempt to take any of the money back.

David meets a young woman in the bar and leaves with her. The scene cuts to him standing in a hotel room and the woman is asleep in the bed near him. He does not see or mention her again.

A teen boy with teleporting abilities is captured and held painfully against a tree. He groans and convulses in pain as his captor, Roland Cox, tells him that he is an abomination and that he intends to kill him and everyone like him before producing a large knife and hurting the boy.

David is attacked by Cox who uses electricity and a cattle prod to stifle his ability to teleport. Cox has several weapons and tools to stop David from getting away and makes it clear that he intends to kill David who struggles to fight him. This scene is intense and violent so could be scary for younger kids.

A male and female character kiss and begin to take off their clothes. The woman’s bra is shown but the camera cuts away before anything further happens.

David takes Millie to the Colosseum in Rome but they are told that the landmark is closed for the day. However, despite Millie’s mild protests, David sneaks them inside via an unmanned door and, after looking around for a while, David tells Millie he will get her into certain ‘off limits’ areas. While inside, David is attacked by two Paladins, resulting in a violent fight; a man is killed by having his head smashed against one of the ancient stone walls.

A Paladin is knocked unconscious and kidnapped by Griffin (another male who can also teleport) and kept in his lair. Later, Griffin is seen to teleport back into his room, soaking wet and bringing lots of water with him. He gleefully tells David how he took the Paladin ‘swimming’ in the Atlantic Ocean, heavily implying that he murdered him by drowning. Although the Paladin would have killed Griffin if he had had the chance, Griffin’s casual attitude towards murder may not be a message parents wish their kids to see.

A loved one of David is approached by Cox and threatened with violence if he doesn’t help him find David. It is clear that this character understands what will happen but has no intention of helping Cox, the scene cuts before anything further is seen. Shortly after, David finds this character unconscious and is distraught. He transports them to the hospital but immediately leaves in order to confront Cox so this character’s fate is left ambiguous.

The finale of the movie is a violent fight involving that characters transporting themselves all over the world. At one point, a truck driven by an innocent man is forced to drive at David by Cox. David transports himself and the truck into the middle of a warzone in Chechnya; the driver is clearly shocked and seconds later, a tank drives over it, crushing it completely and presumably killing the driver.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘JUMPER’ FOR KIDS?

Disappointingly bland, ‘Jumper’ could have been a better movie had the protagonist been better written and the plot more interesting. There are a few good fight scenes the verge on being scary so we would recommend this movie for kids aged 8 and over.

• Violence: 3/5 (fight scenes become intense. The Paladins have no qualms about killing the young people who can teleport. The death of an incidental character is quite brutal and although nothing graphic is shown, it is clear they have been stabbed)
• Emotional Distress: 2/5
• Fear Factor: 2/5
• Sexual Content: 3/5 (a casual one night stand and a physical relationship begins shortly after the two decide to become couple)
• Bad Language: 2/5 (some infrequent cursing)
• Dialogue: 0/5
• Other Notes: Deals with themes of discovering new abilities, the responsibility to deal with abilities that make you super-human, adult relationships, prejudice and hurting those who are different to you.

Words by Laura Record