The Skinny:
Hayden Christensen plays a young man who can “jump” to any place in the world just by thinking really hard about it. Yep, that’s the whole story folks!

The Good:
The film’s premise is definitely one of those “Oh man, I wish I could do that!” kind of things I thought about as a kid, and it is mildly amusing to watch Hayden zip around the world, and explore the freedom of his new powers. I can’t think of many more positive things to say except that Rachel Bilson, playing Hayden’s girlfriend, does exactly what is asked of her character (pout a lot).

The Bad:
While Jumper’s concept has potential, it clearly wasn’t thought out very well, because there is no further definition of Hayden’s character or powers to make him a well-balanced hero. For example, Superman can always take the “easy way” out and fly away from danger, but not if the bad guy has Kryptonite! In this case, Hayden doesn’t really have a Kryptonite. The bad guys just need to be fast enough to catch him like a rat. So it’s hard to feel nervous for Hayden in tense situations when he can be half away across the world in a blink of an eye. On a nerdy side note, I’d think eventually the bad guys pursuing him would give up after a few of his “jumps,” given how expensive plane tickets are, and how tight airport security is getting :-).

The Ugly:
Samuel L. Jackson sports blond hair, perhaps to try and somehow differentiate this character from the 24,391 other bad/angry guys he’s played.

The Bottom Line:
I hate to get caught up in a reality check again, but after you see the film, ask yourself this: wouldn’t this have all been over a lot sooner if Hayden just “jumped” Sam Jackson during their first encounter? Then again, if he did that, this movie never would have existed. And that would be fine with me.

Score:

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