Film Review: Jumper

About the film

Jumper is an action/ science fiction film that stars Hayden Christensen and Rachel Bilson and was released in 2008. It is rated 15 due to moderate amounts of violence and one use of strong language. The film is 84 minutes long.

Plot

When David was a teenager, he realised there was something special about himself. After being bullied for giving a girl he liked, Millie, a gift, he falls into a freezing river but David managed to transport himself elsewhere to save him from dying. His family life isn't all that great as his father is an alcoholic and his mother left years ago so David decides to use his new found gift to get away.

David learns to hone his gift and uses it to better his own life, and ends up living a life of luxury, instead of how things should have gone. On a normal day, he realises that something is terribly wrong and that Paladins, members of a secret society, are trying to track him down and kill him because of what he can do. David is thrown into a battle between good and evil and everyone thinks they're in the right.

What I thought

I was really looking forward to watching this film because the trailers made it look so fantastic but it is nothing like what I imagined, that isn't to say I didn't enjoy it though. While the idea behind it is pretty interesting, there are quite a few aspects that let it down a lot. I was highly disappointed by the length of this film and just as I was really getting into the story, I realised it was getting near the end. I'm glad I didn't pay too much for the DVD and didn't go see this at the cinema.

The special effects were incredible and left me thinking about how things had actually been done. As David 'jumps' all over the world, there are a lot of different cities/ historic landmarks in this film and each one was as impressive as the next. Some of the places were actually filmed but some were done by computer and I couldn't really tell the difference. The main idea and the effects are what make this film fast paced and exciting most of the way through.

Hayden Christensen was great as David and for me, was the perfect choice for the role, instead of the 18 year old that was originally cast. Christensen did his own stunts too which is impressive but it was a shame to hear that he got injured during some of the stunts. I love it when actors do at least some of their own stunts because it really makes them stand out for me. David has quite a mixed personality at times and Christensen did well to make him seem childish at times but then also very mature at others.

I was slightly disappointed with Rachel Bilson who played Millie. I'd seen her before in The O.C and as far as I know, this was her first major film. While she does a good job of being the girl next door type, and also looks the part, I don't think she gave her character enough strength for what Millie was going through. The little amount of passion that we see between Millie and David was done very well though and the chemistry was extremely believable.

I kind of wished that the fight/ action scenes had been a little more elaborate and longer but they weren't too bad. I assume that given the ending, there will be more of this in the later films and the fights will be bigger and more impressive.

When I first watched this film, there were plans to make more in the series. However, now that this is not going to happen, the characters are left not having any real closure or a happy ending, even a sad ending would have been better. Enough of the background wasn't explained in this film and it left the story with some major gaps which should have been covered in future films. Overall, Jumper isn't a bad film, but with there now being no plans to carry on the series, it has a very disappointing ending.

*So I know I'm kind of cheating with this one as it is not technically time travel but it does cover travel of space so I thought I would use it anyway!*