(hayden-christensen.com) - In previous film and media, I've never seen anything interesting done with the powers of teleporation. I've always been a fan of the Uncanny X-Men, a comic book that preceded the movies, but I can honestly say I've never been a big fan of their character "Nightcrawler" nor his teleporation abilities. In Jumper, David Rice (Hayden Christensen) discovers an ability to teleport after finding himself in an extreme situation. Instead of becoming a crime fighter and using his powers for the greater good of humanity, he exploits his abilities to lead a comfortable life and travel the world with never the intention of hurting any one individual. This is probably a more realistic manner in which this power would be applied (or at least that's how I'd use it) so the premise of this superhero lifestyle was believable.
The movie was definitely entertaining. We explore the origins of a new Jumper and also have a bit of mystery with his family. We're taken to exotic places around the globe. The pace of this movie is fast and rich with visual effects that are believable. The action sequences really kept my interest and glued to my seat. How many times have you seen a car chase with the entire vehicle teleporting? The enemies in the movie were rather tame though. Plus I can hardly buy why they wanted to kill all jumpers. How scary is an electric cattle prod used by the nemesis Roland Cox (Samuel L. Jackson) to chase down Jumpers? I would think a semi automatic would be more effective if they want to terminate all jumpers.
Hayden seemed to portray this role more as a "runner" - one that "jumps" away from trouble rather than using his skills to fight back. Hayden Christensen's acting was done in a sufficient manner. Most other characters were intense such as Samuel L. Jackson and the other Jumper, Griffin (Jamie Bell) but overall I would say the chemistry between Hayden and Rachel came out flat and unconvincing.
Overall, I can say the movie was imaginative and entertaining. It succeeds in putting an innovative spin on teleportation and the basic "super hero" genre for that matter. I would give it a solid 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.
Also see the gallery for Jumper - Screen Captures.
