movies

Publications by New Journal Enterprises

Home

Archive

Competition

The Review - AT THE MOVIES with WILLIAM HALL
Published: 14 February 2008

Hayden Christensen spends some time on Big Ben during one of his international ‘Jumping’ adventures

It's a big hand to the special effects crew

JUMPER
Directed by DOUG LIMAN
Certificate 12a

HOW'S this for taking the stress out of long-distance travel?
Your bags are packed. Two men in white coats arrive at your home, administer an injection – and you wake up in your hotel in Australia, or Hawaii or South Africa 24 hours later, refreshed and invigorated after a good sleep. You don’t even glimpse an airport.
I’ve toyed with the idea for years, and now at last comes a film that takes it one degree further. David Rice (Hayden Christensen) is a young man who one day discovers he has the ability to teleport himself anywhere in the world.
In the blink of an eye he can zap his way through the “space-time fabric” from one side of the planet to the other. As someone points out, it means he can have breakfast on a Greek island, spend a day surfing in Australia, drop into Paris for dinner and finish up with coffee and brandy in Thailand. Which is impressive, even if it won’t do a lot for his digestion.
He can even nip into locked vaults to rob banks and make himself a millionaire overnight. He doesn’t quite know how he does it – but never look a gift horse in the mouth, right?
But David’s globe-trotting lifestyle changes radically when he finds there’s another kid on the block with similar powers. Griffin (Jamie Bell) is a fiery young rebel who reveals they are part of a group of genetic freaks known as Jumpers – and they’re on the run from a secret organisation (headed by Samuel L Jackson) out to kill them all.
The action is fast and furious, as you’d expect from director Doug Liman (who gave us Mr and Mrs Smith and the cracking Bourne Identity), with the special effects boys having a field day. It’s one of those sci-fi sagas where you can only suspend your disbelief and sit back and enjoy the ride.
Canadian Christensen is a likeable hero whose main claim to fame was playing Anakin Skywalker. So at least he knows a thing or two about time and space travel.

Comment on this article.
(You must supply your full name and email address for your comment to be published)

Name:

Email:

Comment:

» Film Times
» Film Reviews
» Buy DVDs
» Rent DVDs