Jumper
Reviewer: Tim Isaac
Issue 105 July 2008
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 10)
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Leaping onto disc.
The Lowdown: Ever since he was young, David Rice has known he has the ability to teleport himself anywhere in the world. His power allows him to rob banks and fund an expensive lifestyle, however his life comes under threat from a group determined to kill him. David is not the only jumper, and some people have made it their life’s mission to stop them.
Review: I know several people who have absolutely no interest in Star Wars, but used to get very excited every time they saw a picture of Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker. He is undoubtedly a good looking chap. Unfortunately he falls into the Keanu Reeves bracket of actors, where they’re very good as long as they aren’t speaking. That’s certainly true of Jumper, as especially on Blu-ray, Christensen looks very nice and does pretty well during action sequences. Unfortunately he then opens his mouth and things go downhill from there.
Admittedly it’s not all his fault, as he has to contend with a script that feels as if its been ripped up and rewritten so much that it no longer even vaguely makes sense. Perhaps we should be thankful that as a result of this, Hayden’s character is impressively bland, which fits his acting skills to a tee.
It’s all a bit of a shame, as the film undoubtedly looks good. The teleportation effects are often impressive, and there are a few moments that look truly astounding in HD. The DTS Master Audio also gives your speakers a good workout, with plenty of bombastic effects during action sequences. There’s little doubt though that all the pretty visuals and great surround sound in the world can’t help raise Jumper from feeling like a missed opportunity. HD really shows what this should have been, with a rich palette and good effects, but everything from the plot to the acting lets it down.
Much of this is probably due to a troubled production history, with reports that director Doug Liman’s first choice for the roles of David and romantic interest Millie were recast partway through filming at the behest of the studio, who wanted bigger names. Nor does having three of Hollywood’s top screenwriters working on the movie seem to have helped much, with Simon Kinberg (X-Men: The Last Stand, Mr And Mrs Smith), Jim Uhls (Fight Club) and David S. Goyer (Dark City, Blade) not managing to muster much in the way of compelling narrative.
On the special feature front, the Blu-ray comes with all the bits and pieces that were included on the DVD version, which mainly consists of some okay behind-the-scene featurettes and an audio commentary. There is one Blu-ray exclusive feature called ‘Jumping Around The World’, which offers a picture-in-picture look at the various places around the world where the movie was shot.
The Blu-ray version of Jumper undoubtedly look good and the sound is very effective, but you still can’t escape the fact that even as a piece of bubblegum action/sci-fi storytelling, it’s a poor effort that isn’t as good as it could have been.
PICTURE: 8
AUDIO: 7
FILM: 5
EXTRAS: 6
DVD Info:
Certificate: 12
Release Date: June 16th
Starring: Hayden Christensen, Rachel Bilson, Diane Lane, Jamie Bell, Samuel L. Jackson
Directed By: Doug Liman, 2008
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Visuals: 2.35:1 Widescreen
Running Time: 84 mins
Price: £27.99
Film supplied by: Premier PR
Special Features:
Scene Selection
Audio Commentary With Director Doug Liman, Writer/Producer Simon Kinberg and Producer Lucas Foster
‘Jumping From Novel To Film: The Past, Present & Future of Jumper’ Featurette
‘Making An Actor Jump’ Featurette
‘Doug Liman’s Jumper: Exposed’ Featurette
‘Jumping Around The World’ Featurette
Animated Graphic Novel
Previz: Future Concepts
Deleted Scenes
‘Jumping Around the World’ Picture In Picture Feature
