Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Jumper




You can count me in the Jumper camp. Jumper is the new Highlander.
Someone asked me if this is a time travel movie. My first impulse would be to say no, Jumper is more of a space continuum movie. A quick look on the internet reveals this gem if physics: "It is well known that the space/time continuum is curved. The curvature occurs as a result of the influence of mass against movement in time. Recently, it has been possible to detect this curvature. As three-dimensional beings, we perceive time only as a result of memory."
You know what, maybe Jumper is a time travel movie. Only the time is here and now. The mileage Jack and Morgan got out of sitting on top of the Great Pyramid (in Bucket List) is tripled after Hayden Christensen as David Rice (no relation to the songwriter) learns to space shift and constantly goes for his me time on the head of the Great Sphinx.
Rice found out about his abnormal ability during high school in a sequence right out of the ice pond from It's A Wonderful Life. Highlander was also mentioned, namely because Jumper spends most of the film establishing a mythology of Jumpers, much as Highlander laid out the groundwork for what eventually followed in that franchise. Much to director Doug Liman's credit he never has a scene where some character actually explains to another character what it means to be a Jumper. You just have to watch the film and get it. This isn't Mr. & Mrs. Smith kind of action on display, it's more thought provoking sci-fi with outbursts of kinetic excitement. The best scene has Rice and another Jumper racing a Mercedes through downtown London.
Samuel L. Jackson plays Roland a white haired freaky dude who may or may not be with a secret government agency and who hunts Jumpers with the intent to kill. Diane Lane briefly comes to Rice's aid and may serve a larger role should Jumper spawn sequels. Rachel Bilson (The O.C.) and Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot) are welcome allies to Rice. Jumper won't replace The Matrix, but it will keep you occupied until something does.

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