Movie: Jumper

Studios:	Regency Enterprises, 20th Century Fox
Release:	February 14, 2008
Genre:	Action/Adventure, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Adaptation and Teen
MPAA Rating:	PG-13 for sequences of intense action violence, some language and brief sexuality.

My Yahoo! Movies Rating:

Overall Grade:	C+
Story:	C+
Acting	B-
Direction:	B-
Visuals:	C+

The idea of Jumpers is intriguing. Too bad the movie didn't optimize the potential of the premise.

The trailer was "iffy", which should have warned me not to expect too much. But there is the participation of Jamie Bell, whose acting is always on spot whenever I get to see him in a movie.

Jamie was good although there was little he could do with the material given him; Samuel Jackson makes a cool, good villain (like he always does); and Hayden Christensen plays the lead character David, which he tries to portray as one cocky fellow but does not quite pull off. Although Christensen is lead, much of the drama scenes for the character David is given to Max Thieriot, who plays the younger David. This is a sci-fi action movie, however, so it's unfair to expect memorable, Oscar-worthy acting.

The movie enjoys showing off the "jumping" scenes, but apart from the special effects, the majority of the movie looks drab.

Although there is effort to explain certain situations or the appearance of new characters, the manner of exposition was either lame or begged for more questions. We are told that Paladins hate jumpers. Hate comes from fear, so what do Paladins fear from jumpers that they have to hunt them, preferably before they reach adulthood? Let's not forget logistics. Where in the world do the Paladins get their funding? If Griffin doesn't care much for helping David, why even introduce himself?

The movie also had loose ends ... David leaves Roland and Griffin stuck in hard to get away from places but we do not know if they eventually escape or die. Makes one wonder if the producers wanted the option to bring back these characters in the event that they get to make a sequel.