When Hayden Christensen (Awake) considers his career, he may find his good looks have been a curse. Perpetually miscast as a leading man because of his matinee idol appearance, Christensen seems uncomfortable once again as the teleporting David Rice in Jumper. Despite energized work from director Doug Liman (Mr. and Mrs. Smith) and supporting players Jamie Bell (Flags of our Fathers) and Samuel L. Jackson (1408), Jumper never gets us to care.
In classic wish-fulfillment superpower tradition, Rice’s ability to teleport anywhere allows him to escape from his poor relationship with his father (one of the few emotionally engaging relationships of the film, dropped way too early). On his own in his early teens, David steals his way into a fortune, but he still pines for the girl from high school, Millie (Rachel Bilson, The Last Kiss). Unfortunately, as he learns from fellow “jumper” Griffin (Bell), a mysterious group of “Paladins” (led by boss Roland, played by Jackson) is trying to wipe out all jumpers. When David does finally reunite with Millie, their lives are threatened by Roland, leading to the bulk of the film’s action.
The might-as-well-be-a-comic-book material is actually based on a novel by Stephen Gould, so it’s good that the film’s writing crew actually has experience in this department. Simon Kinberg (X-Men: The Last Stand) and David Goyer (Batman Begins) are big-time writers in the genre, and Jim Uhls has career credibility because of Fight Club. Even though the film’s source material is a novel, the writers give the film the superhero treatment; in one of the film’s more amusing bits, Griffin and David talk about getting together for a “limited run” like a “Marvel team up” comic book.
Sense of humor about itself notwithstanding, Jumper seems to want us to care about its lead characters. But the underwritten romance between David and Millie leaves much to be desired. Millie is given no personality, neither by the writing nor by the bland performance of Bilson. Her main function seems to be to look pretty and confused and ask, “What’s going on?” every five minutes. Together, Bilson and Christensen give off very little spark – there seems to be no chemistry, just some pretty faces.
Christensen was at his best when he played the whiny, ultra-insecure Stephen Glass in Shattered Glass, and it seems like elements of that performance have awkwardly snuck into his bigger roles. Too whimper-y in the Star Wars films and too sensitive here, Christensen is better suited to play weasels like Glass than leading men. The film tries to convince us David has a little edge to him, but Christensen is too soft to really sell it. Neither the script nor Christensen imbues the leading man with personality.
Audiences may be wishing the film were about its supporting characters. Jackson, rocking a bright silver hairdo, brings welcome intensity to his role as Paladin leader Roland. He’s doing his typical badass shtick, but few do it better. And Jamie Bell (forever immortalized as Billy “Dance Billy!” Elliot) has the edge and personality Christensen doesn’t as Griffin; he would have made for an immeasurably better lead.
Director Liman’s camera roves around at its maniacal best during the action sequences, seeming as unrestricted as the teleporting characters. And the writers have some fun with the freedom given by the concept, as the fights hop across the world. Particularly memorable is Griffin’s tendency to “throw” cars, trucks and double-decker buses at his opponents.
One of the only things the film has going for it is its top-notch effects, which allow the “jumping” to be seamless. The travelogue shots of characters on top of the Sphinx and Big Ben and in the Coliseum all look authentic enough, and it appears no expense was spared in conjuring up the fight scenes.
If only the same care was applied to the lead characters, Liman would have had a better film on his hands. Christensen and Bilson’s low-key performances distance us from Jumper’s characters; the only upside to the film comes from the action front, which makes for a welcome diversion to Jumper’s actual plot. Yet another case of a big-budget film where the characters seem as computer-generated as the special effects, Jumper does enough right to get by, but not much else.
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RATING: 2.5 STARS OUT OF 5
