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drpaisleySo Rohanna and I made it to Jumper this afternoon, once the snow ended and it was deterimined the roads were not bad, at least in midtown. It was entertaining, and I certainly wasn't wanting my $4 back (yay, Cinemark Merriam for real matinee prices!)
The story is fairly simple: David (Hayden Christiansen) discovers at age 15 he can Jump when he falls through the ice on a river. Everyone thinks he's dead, so he grabs a stash of cash and goes to New York, where he hones his skills (and finances a lavish lifestyle with occasional Jumps into bank vaults). Eight years later, the Paladins (led by Roland [Samuel L. Jackson with his hair dyed white]) finally find him, and nearly kill him. Much Jumping and chasing follow, with the introduction of Griffin (Jamie Bell), another Jumper who provides cryptic bits of background on the Paladins. In the end, David triumphs over Roland, but doesn't kill him, proving he's "different." Because abandoning someone in a cave far above a river with no means of escape is so much more merciful than simply killing them, apparently. In the final scene, David confronts his mother, who left the family when David first Jumped at age five. Mom is a Paladin, you see, and abandoned him to protect him. David leaves her very nice house, and he and his girlfriend Jump off to the almost inevitable sequel.
It's not a bad movie, not as bad as the review in the KC Star portrayed it. But many of the reviewer's issues with the film did bother me at various points, as well. The biggest problem I had was with how rushed it was. It was only 86 minutes long, and another 15-20 minutes providing some background on plot points only briefly touched on would have been most welcome. Particularly the role of the Paladins, who have been finding and killing Jumpers for hundreds of years (given they use taser-like devices to keep the Jumpers from escaping, I would have like to have heard how they did it during the Inquisition). It felt to me (and Rohanna agreed on this point) like the pilot for a TV series more than a movie, in that the filmmakers were busy trying to establish all the plot coupons that they would be redeeming in the future, and less concerned about providing any depth of characterization. Given that Jumper has taken in $39 million since its debut Thursday, I would guess that the sequel(s) will probably get a green light, and presumably there will be more information and background given then.
I'd say go see it, cheap. Support Steve Gould, who wrote the novel (now I have to dig it out and read it, to see just how different it is from the film product). It's fast-paced, amusing and the effects are quite entertaining.
The story is fairly simple: David (Hayden Christiansen) discovers at age 15 he can Jump when he falls through the ice on a river. Everyone thinks he's dead, so he grabs a stash of cash and goes to New York, where he hones his skills (and finances a lavish lifestyle with occasional Jumps into bank vaults). Eight years later, the Paladins (led by Roland [Samuel L. Jackson with his hair dyed white]) finally find him, and nearly kill him. Much Jumping and chasing follow, with the introduction of Griffin (Jamie Bell), another Jumper who provides cryptic bits of background on the Paladins. In the end, David triumphs over Roland, but doesn't kill him, proving he's "different." Because abandoning someone in a cave far above a river with no means of escape is so much more merciful than simply killing them, apparently. In the final scene, David confronts his mother, who left the family when David first Jumped at age five. Mom is a Paladin, you see, and abandoned him to protect him. David leaves her very nice house, and he and his girlfriend Jump off to the almost inevitable sequel.
It's not a bad movie, not as bad as the review in the KC Star portrayed it. But many of the reviewer's issues with the film did bother me at various points, as well. The biggest problem I had was with how rushed it was. It was only 86 minutes long, and another 15-20 minutes providing some background on plot points only briefly touched on would have been most welcome. Particularly the role of the Paladins, who have been finding and killing Jumpers for hundreds of years (given they use taser-like devices to keep the Jumpers from escaping, I would have like to have heard how they did it during the Inquisition). It felt to me (and Rohanna agreed on this point) like the pilot for a TV series more than a movie, in that the filmmakers were busy trying to establish all the plot coupons that they would be redeeming in the future, and less concerned about providing any depth of characterization. Given that Jumper has taken in $39 million since its debut Thursday, I would guess that the sequel(s) will probably get a green light, and presumably there will be more information and background given then.
I'd say go see it, cheap. Support Steve Gould, who wrote the novel (now I have to dig it out and read it, to see just how different it is from the film product). It's fast-paced, amusing and the effects are quite entertaining.