Jumper (2008)

Directed by: Doug Liman | 88 minutes | drama, thriller, adventure, science fiction | Actors: Hayden Christensen, Samuel L. Jackson, Diane Lane, Jamie Bell, Rachel Bilson, Tom Hulce, Michael Rooker, Sean Baek, Katie Boland, Nathalie Cox, Teddy Dunn, Barbara Garrick, Meredith Henderson, AnnaSophia Robb, Max Thieriot, Adam Chuckryk, Brad Borbridge, Corey Fryia, Louie Torrellas, Jesse James, Shawn Roberts, Angelica Lisk, Buster Reeves, Ryan Grantham, Roe Montez

Fortunately, not every film has to be a classic. And that is not ‘Jumper’. The genesis of a superhero, “how did it get this far?”, is a good formula, because everyone can identify with someone who means nothing yet and then suddenly has the world at their feet, something we know from many stories around superheroes. A film like ‘The Matrix’ also uses it, but the Wachowski brothers take much more time for it in their film. But ‘Jumper’ is a bit on the short side at 88 minutes and thus does not use the formula optimally.

In ‘The Matrix’ the main character has a lot of trouble accepting his new hero role at the beginning. Because he and therefore we, the viewers, feel that this role is really meaningful and therefore entails responsibilities. That he slowly but surely accepts this gives you a good feeling. This is also the story of ‘Groundhog Day’ (1993), in which the main character uses his situation very selfishly at first, but learns to use his gift through harm and shame for the benefit of others, a phase that is unfortunately still missing in this film. .

This is a pity, because it makes it a bit difficult to identify with our hero to be David, as he remains essentially an empty figure, living on money he has stolen. He has lunch in Paris in the morning, surfs in Egypt in the afternoon and has a date in London in the evening, though. Nice, for a while then. Fortunately, he still gets the chance to get his girlfriend out of the clutches of some bad guys, which provides the necessary tension and action. But that’s it. A little corner of the veil is lifted when we see David watching a disaster on TV in which human lives could have been saved with the help of his gift. It stays with this hint.

The second really big role for Hayden Christensen (after ‘Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones’ and ‘Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith’) doesn’t show much more depth than the first(s), but Hayden has clearly grown as an actor; he comes across as a bit more confident and experienced. A nice supporting role is played by British actor Jamie Bell, who we know as the dancer in the touching and award-winning ‘Billy Elliot’ (2000). And then we have a bad guy, portrayed by star actor Samuel L. Jackson. Nothing new under the sun, but okay. However, the most important role in ‘Jumper’ is reserved for the special effects and they are obviously well done.

The biggest surprise in the story comes from meeting an important person from David’s past. No more can be said about this than that this adds a dimension to the story that is potentially really exciting and interesting. Hopefully the writers will build on this in part two and perhaps three and more.

With ‘The Bourne Identity’, director Doug Liman instigated a worldwide success series, whether that will also happen with this film remains to be seen. For the time being, we have to make do with a film that promises great things for the future, that holds up reasonably well as an action film, but that lacks the dramatic finesse to be really exciting, let alone become a classic.