Review - Jumper

Doug Liman's Jumper is a frantic, exciting film that catches you within the first few minutes and never slows down. The effects are amazing, especially the jump effect, especially once we meet an accomplished jumper who can jump buses and cars. There is one memorable sequence as we are introduced to David (Hayden Christiansen) where he performs his morning routines jumper-style. At one point, he stands on one side of the kitchen, reaches his arm out and then is suddenly at the refrigerator door, perfectly posed to open it. Liman makes his laziness and enjoyment of his power perfectly mundane in these early scenes, just as he made it seem perfectly plausible that two rival assassins were unwittingly married in Mr. and Mrs. Smith. These early scenes also show us the extravagance and excess of David's life, paid for by 'loans' from many different banks. Christiansen succeeds in making David not only relatable but likable as he jumps from continent to continent, eventually settling down for lunch on the head of the sphinx.
Eventually, these light-hearted fun scenes come to an end with the introduction of Roland (Samuel L. Jackson), a mysterious figure who knows David's secret and wants him dead, boldly declaring that only God should have the power to be everywhere at once. The appearance of a second jumper, Griffin (Jamie Bell) throws David's world into a frenzy as he tries to survive the age-old war between the Paladins and the Jumpers and protect the girl he loves (Rachel Bilson).
Unfortunately the film does have its flaws. Its story is fairly one-dimensional and the audience is thrown into it even faster than David. We are basically told here is one side, here's the other. Now watch! At the end, after a surprising and somewhat shocking epilogue, you can't help but feel that there was a lot more story potential here that was squandered.
The film does require viewers to make a few leaps of faith to deal with logical problems, the biggest one being Millie's (Bilson) lack of surprise when David shows up 10 years after disappearing and her eagerness to go to Rome the same afternoon. If you can get past minor logical flaws like this one, then everything else seems to work.
At times, Liman's camerawork seems a little claustrophobic, which is ironic considering this is a movie about being everywhere at once, but as usual, he excels in fight scenes. One several minute scene where Griffin and David fight for a detonator spans several continents and is an amazing experience. Liman proves that he hasn't lost it with the sequences such as this where he simply revels in the premise of this magnificent power.
To keep the film grounded, Liman surrounded himself with a solid cast of visceral, emotional actors. Hayden Christiansen channels the moral ambiguity of David in such a way that he never seems to not be the hero despite some questionable decisions, while Bell's Griffin always plays like a maverick adventurer who we want to root for. Bilson turns in an excellent performance as the down-to-earth and adventurous Millie who accepts David's new-found power with only slight reluctance. And Jackson, of course, steals the show as the malicious, determined (admittedly, shallow and one-sided) Paladin who wants to bring death to them all and is not above trying to kidnap Bilson and kill David's family to accomplish that goal.
Speaking of David's family, Diane Lane turns in a surprising cameo as David's mother, who abandoned him when he was five and mysteriously resurfaces in the middle of the film with a secret of her own. This storyline seems like the biggest waste of potential although it does result in one chilling line, towards the end of the film where Lane gets to channel her maternal instincts and her no-nonsense attitude.
While it can't be denied that the script is light, Jumper is an enjoyable adrenaline-boost with solid performances, spectacular effects and more than a little possibility of a sequel.