DVD
REVIEW: JUMPER
06/07/08
SYNOPSIS: The
science fiction thriller leaps into a new realm with JUMPER,
which begins the epic adventures of a man who discovers that
he possesses the exhilarating ability to instantly teleport
anywhere in the world he can imagine. From New York to
Tokyo, from the ruins of Rome to the heart of the Saharan
Desert, anywhere is possible for David Rice (HAYDEN
CHRISTENSEN), until he begins to see that his freedom is not
total, that he's not alone . . . but part of an ongoing,
global war that threatens the very survival of his rare and
extraordinary kind.
REVIEW: Talk about
hyping up a movie, this one was hyped, pushed, promoted, and
heavily advertised. So one of your first questions might be,
“is it worth the hype?” Well, it is debatable, but I think
it comes very close. If you really think about it, there
haven’t been too many movies recently that do live up to its
hype, so why should this one? (Did I just say that?) Even
though it falls slightly short, it is a good movie. The
special effects are extraordinary, the storyline is okay,
the acting is just good enough, and the cinematography,
well, when they say “anywhere is possible” they’re not
kidding. I had some qualms with the concept though. Being a
fan of the X-Men series, when I heard of this movie my first
reaction was that they are ripping off the Nightcrawler
character in X2. A jumper is a teleporter just like
Nightcrawler. In this case, however, a jumper is a lot more
powerful. Nightcrawler can only teleport short distances
while a jumper can teleport to anywhere in the world that
they focus on, near or far instantly. Needless to say, I
quickly got over my qualm. This is way more cool!
“Take a deep breath . . .” and prepare for a great ride. The
best aspect of this film is the eye-popping special effects.
That combined with the various locations that the jumpers
jump to adds to the visual marvel of this motion picture.
From Asia to Europe to Africa to Ann Arbor, Michigan,
anywhere is possible. Your travel dreams can come true in an
instant with a jumper. In the case of a jumper by the name
of David Rice (Hayden Christensen), his financial dreams
also come true. Discovering his “ability” at the age of 15,
he begins to travel the path of selfishness. He is rich but
unfulfilled, harmless to others but still a criminal . . .
or is he? At some moments you might question whether he is a
good guy or a bad guy. Enter Roland (Samuel Jackson), a
hunter of jumpers, and your categorizing of good guy/bad guy
becomes a little easier. Hayden has the look for playing “a
good guy and bad guy at the same time” role but how well
does he perform it? Based on this movie and the Star Wars
series, eh, nothing to write home about. You can always
count on Mr. Jackson to do a good job and he does. The white
hair though, eh, a little over the top. Jamie Bell as
Griffin, a fellow jumper that runs into David and David goes
to for answers, performed with more intensity than Hayden.
Rachel Bilson as Millie, David’s life-long crush, is a
looker and her acting is up to par with Hayden (which is not
saying much). It would have been nice to see a little more
of Diane Lane though (yeah, she’s in the movie).
All the characters in this film are underdeveloped. Same
goes for the script. Some of the lines are too elementary
when it should have been a little more intellectual. This
helps degrade the actors’ performances, but luckily the
visual aspects helped enhance them. The flow of the story is
bumpy at best which is not too surprising considering the
subject matter . . . the story flow jumps like a jumper.
Director Doug Liman previously directed two of my favorite
movies; Mr. and Mrs. Smith and The Bourne Identity. Although
this project is not as good, it is still worthy of
recognition. So guys, after taking your girl to see
Definitely Maybe on Valentine’s Day, you follow up with
having your girl take you to see Jumper the following
weekend. I think you’ll enjoy it.
Movie
Review By Cine Marcos
cinemarcos@smartcine.com
VIDEO:
1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
AUDIO:
English,
Spanish and French
5.1 (Dolby Digital).
Subtitles - English Spanish - Optional
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Audio Commentary by Director Doug Liman,
Writer/Producer Simon Kinberg and Producer Lucas Foster
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)
Previz: Future Concepts - Don‘t know what this is
for but it shows an animated sequence of Paladins and
Jumpers fighting. (4:34)
RATING BREAK DOWN:
| FILM REVIEW |
|
|
VIDEO |
 |
|
AUDIO |
|
| BONUS
FEATURES |
 |
Submit Your Movie Review
MORE MOVIE REVIEWS
>>>
