The product of a broken home, David Rice (Hayden Christensen) is looking for a way to escape from his abusive father - and finds it when he discovers he can teleport himself at will. But Davey's newfound powers soon become a double-edged sword that exacts a terrible price... and attracts unwanted attention from the National Security Agency. -netflix
As a kid, David falls into an ice-covered lake, unable to find his way out. In his struggle to free himself from the icy grave, he teleports himself to the local library. He struggles to hone his newly found skill, so heads off to New York where he can learn to harness his new powers and be anonymous in the process. He soon begins using his teleportation to rob banks and build quite a bit of personal wealth. His bank robbing exploits soon attract the attention of Roland (Samuel L. Jackson), who is the leader of a group who is out to rid the world of jumpers. This group believes that only God should have the ability to be at any place at any time.
Soon David reunites with his high school crush Millie (Rachel Bilson) and offers to take her Rome... by airplane of course. While on his travels, he meets another jumper named Griffin (Jamie Bell) who explains about the battle between jumpers and the group that is out to kill them, the Pallidins. After Millie is kidnapped by Roland and his crew to use as bait, David and Griffin join forces to fight back.
After seeing the effects in the commercials, I looked forward to seeing this one. I surely wasn't expecting it to be a life changing event, but I was expecting it to be entertaining... and it was. The story was a bit weak at times, but the special effects certainly carried the film... about what you would expect from an implausible science fiction movie. The acting wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great. Hayden Christensen proved that he can act a bit, but most of the players were pretty stale. As much as I like Samuel L. Jackson, he was probably wrong for this role. Certainly that white hair was wrong.
Teleportation, what an intriguing concept. Who wouldn't like to have the ability to jump from place to place at will, in an instant? That is one of the great things about this movie, how it left you pondering just what you might do if you had this ability. It is certainly a power that alot of people would like to have. With that said, I think the writers could have done alot more with the story. Like I mentioned, the story did have some problems along the way. I did like how we were allowed to see how David struggled with his new ability and how there was a learning curve involved with controlling it. I would have liked to have seen more development between him and Millie when he returned to his hometown to reunite with her. I mean, he just showed up, out of the blue, after all of this time with everyone thinking he was dead. With very little persuading... he convinced her to trot the globe with him... without a lot of questions. How do you do that? Maybe that is another power that alot people would like to have.
Jumper is not a Shakespeare in the Park acting experience... nor was it intended to be. It is a really good, action packed sci-fi flick that entertains. It gives you some food for thought after you watch it, which I always enjoy. If you could teleport anywhere at anytime... what would you do with your life? Would you become a superhero of sorts, helping those in need... or would you just use it for selfish reasons like David? This is a good sci-fi/action flick, one that is entertaining and one that I recommend.
The product of a broken home, David Rice (Hayden Christensen) is looking for a way to escape from his abusive father - and finds it when he discovers he can teleport himself at will. But Davey's newfound powers soon become a double-edged sword that exacts a terrible price... and attracts unwanted attention from the National Security Agency. -netflix
