REVIEW: Jumper1

So here’s my take on “Jumper”, which I went and saw in cinemas yesterday! As always, I’ll keep it as spoiler-free as humanly possible (should really stop writing that last bit as it makes me feel like an old nagging lady). Anyway, on to the review!

I wasn’t that sure what I was going to think about this film. After seeing the previews, it sure looked like a cool special-effects extravaganza with Anakin…Hayden Christensen in the lead role. I was sure it’d be another one of those awesome films effects-wise, but would it be backed up by an equally awesome story? I switched off all my senses for logic and gravity (which is needed to see this film) and went in to this film ready to be jumped by anything as awesome as the trailers. Ignore the earlier pun.

Well, as I said just above this, the story isn’t realistic in really any form or way but as it’s a science-fiction film, I didn’t find it annoying in any way. It’s a basic story about a boy, David Rice (Christensen) who finds out he has a genetic anomaly that allows him to teleport pretty much anywhere, as long as he has a visual reminder of the place (for example, a photograph). It doesn’t take long until David starts using his power for worse things, and before you know it, he’s robbing banks all over the world while travelling to sunbathe on top of the Sphinx. It doesn’t take long before an evil organisation within the NSA is on his trail, which means David has to join up with another “Jumper”, Griffin (Jamie Bell, of “Billy Elliot” fame). Oh, and the villain, Roland, is played by Samuel L. Jackson. Awesome.

It was pretty interesting to see Christensen in another film than Star Wars. He’s a good actor with good emotional range. Jamie Bell really looks quite odd in this film, but works pretty good (his character has killer sideburns). The main girl and love interest for David is played by Rachel Bilson, who I believe have been in some kind of TV-series before this film. She’s a good actress, but I’m sure she’d do better off in a more dialouge-based film or TV show. Samuel L. Jackson plays pretty much the same role as he always plays, but that’s not a bad thing, as he is a real oneliner-machine.

So, the thing you’ve been waiting for (well, at least I’ve been looking forward to writing this ): The visual effects and the cinematography are awesome. The visual effects are some of the best I’ve seen in quite some time, with people dissapearing and appearing out of thin air throughout the entire picture. And this isn’t your ordinary “let’s keep the camera going and run out of the frame” trick, this is some pretty mindblowing stuff they’re doing. The cinematography is great too, and it feels like some sort of mix between the shaky-cam stuff of “28 Weeks Later” but with a steady-cam and some cool whip-pans involved. I’m sure there’s some movie-making witchcraft involved in some of the whip-pans (such as cutting in the middle of one), but then again, that’s pretty much the entire point of filmmaking. Can’t wait to see this on Blu-Ray, I’m sure it’ll be amazing.

I really liked the music by John Powell, famous for creating some of the more memorable themes from the Bourne films. I seriously recommend you check it out on iTunes (or similar) as it’s really worth a purchase if you’re a fan of majestic movie scores. The sound mixing is equally cool, with the teleporting stuff being best parts.

The only real thing that I thought dragged down this movie quite severly was the last five to ten minutes. The movie just ends very suddenly, and it feels as if they ran out of money or something, because it really is somewhat dissapointing. It doesn’t detract that much from the film itself though, so I’d say if you’re a sci-fi fan, definently go watch this right away!

Verdict: 8 out of 10