BLU-RAY
REVIEW: JUMPER
06/08/08
Jumper came and went to
theaters without making a lot of noise. It was poor received
by the critics and American audiences did not go in droves.
However, the movie managed to make about $221 million in the
world wide market and had similar success as last years
Ghost Rider. The only differences here is that Ghost Rider
was an awfully bad movie while Jumper is a whole lot better.
In Jumper, a Young David Rice (Max Thieriot ) learns of his
ability to teleport one day after school when he falls in
the lake when a thin layer of ice gives way. Everybody
assumes he is dead, but David manages to accidentally
teleport to the local library. That night when he gets home
he again accidentally teleports to the library, and realizes
he has a gift. He decides to leave his abusive father. David
begins to master his ability and begins to rob banks by
teleporting into the vaults and back to his room and going
back and forth until he has more money that he knows what to
do with. At this point the movie fast forwards eight years
and we met a super rich David Rice (Hayden Christensen) who
enjoys life to the fullest by spending his days in some of
the world’s most exotic and exciting places.
Things get bad for David when Roland (Samuel L. Jackson)
shows up and tries to kill him. The worst thing is that
Roland knows what he is and he had the equipment to disable
his ability. David is in shock, but manages to escape. He
returns to his childhood home to find the girl of his dreams
Millie Harris (Rachel Bilson) and offers her a trip to Rome
on an airplane of course. In Rome, things heat up as he
meets another Jumper Griffin (Jamie Bell) and he tells him
that he is caught up in a century old war between Paladins,
religious zealots who think his power is any abomination,
like Roland and Jumpers.
When I first sat down to watch Jumper I only had about 30
minutes to spare and was going to watch it in two separate
sittings, but once the action started I had a hard time
trying to stop the movie at the 30 minute mark. I was so
into the movie that I put my household chorus aside and
actual sat through the whole movie. Ghost Rider would have
never gotten this reaction from me, but Jumper with its big
action sequence that are done very nicely and stunning
special effects had me enthralled.
The only problem I found with Jumper and it is a very
important one is the plot. There are a lot of gasps in the
plot and the story does not feel like a whole one. It’s as
if they are not telling us everything and saving important
plot points we should know now for the next movie. I don’t
think this was a good idea. However, Director Doug Liman did
a good job choreographing the action and I really liked the
style of shooting he did for the movie.
Jumper looks amazing in Blu-ray and the scenery of each
exotic location is breathtaking. The audio is also right up
there with the video. This 2-disk Blu-ray special edition
also includes a bunch of featurettes, six deleted scenes,
and a digital copy of the movie.
Overall Jumper, while ill received by the critics because of
its plot, is still an action packed, special effect loaded
extravaganza that will have you on the edge of your seat
until the last scene rolls. While not much is resolved in
the 88 minutes of action, doesn’t worry about it, it’s still
fun.
Review By Milton Brayson
milton@smartcine.com
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VIDEO:
1080P Widescreen Version
(2.35:1)
AUDIO:
English DTS HD
5.1 Master Lossless Audio
Spanish 5.1 Dolby Surround
French 5.1 Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Audio Commentary by Director Doug Liman,
Writer/Producer Simon Kinberg and Producer Lucas Foster
Picture-in-Picture Jumping Around the World -
Behind-the-scenes footage shown on the lower left of the
screen. This feature is also presented without
Picture-in-Picture.
Doug Liman’s Jumper: Uncensored Documentary - a 35
minute documentary with Doug Liman about the difficulties of
filming Jumper. The task involved re-casting the film’s
stars. (35:34)
Making an actor Jump Featurette - a look at how the
special effect for the teleportation sequences were made.
The main thing to remember is that a jump is violent. (7:36)
Jumping from Novel to Film: The Past, Present & Future of
Jumper Featurette - a look on how the movie when
from the written word to the big screen. Director Doug Liman
says he change the movie because the book was too
conventional. (8:08)
Jumpstart: David’s Story Animated Graphic Novel - a
poorly animated graphic novel featuring more details on
David’s life. (8:07)
Deleted Scenes
1. Inadvertent Jumps - David keeps inadvertently
jumping back to his home town of Ann Arbor. (2:47)
2. Alternate Roland Intro - This scene shows Roland‘s
son and his motives for killing Jumpers. (1:55)
3. Tokyo and The Machine - Shows the development of
Roland‘s teleportation machine. (1:10)
4. David Hides from Roland - Nothing new here. (3:36)
5. Taxi to Airport - David teleports to get Millie’s
things. (1:19)
6. Epilogue War - Griffin stuck in the power lines.
(0:28)
Enhanced for D-Box Motion Control Systems -
lets you feel the motion of the movie if you have a D-Box.
Previz: Future Concepts - Don‘t know what this is
for but it shows an animated sequence of Paladins and
Jumpers fighting. (4:34)
Disc - 2
Standard Definition Digital Copy of Jumper Feature
film.
RATING BREAK DOWN:
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