 
JumperMPAA Rating:
 for sequences of intense action violence, some language and brief sexualityReviewed by: Sheri McMurray Very Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
Average
Primary Audience:
Kids, Teens, Adults
Genre:
Science Fiction, Thriller, Action, Adventure, Adaptation
Length:
1 hr. 28 min.
Year of Release:
2008
USA Release:
February 14, 2008 (wide - 3,350 theaters)
           Relevant Issues
 Should I save sex for marriage? Answer How can I deal with temptations? Answer How far is too far? What are the guidelines for dating relationships? Answer What are the consequences of sexual immorality? Answer 
from a novel by Steven Gould “Anywhere is possible.” On a snowy winter day, shy 15 year old David Rice finally musters up the nerve to approach the girl he has liked ever since he was five years old. He has bought a small gift for her and has wrapped it in the first thing he found lying around the house, old newspaper, tied it with string, and hopes she doesn’t notice what a hap hazard job he’s done. He hopes she sees the love from which the gift is being given. Millie Harris is a petit, dark eyed beauty and looking into those eyes you can see she likes David too. She accepts the gift with sweet affection, a small snow globe, obviously second hand as the Eiffel Tower inside is chipped. He has taken note that Millie dreams of traveling to distant places, the Tower a secret nod that her dreams have not gone unnoticed. Their awkward shyness leaves them without much to say, but one can tell they have mountains of feelings piled up inside just waiting to burst forth. Suddenly the school bully decides to intervene, snatches the delicate snow globe and throws it hurtling onto the thin sheet of ice covering a nearby pond. Embarrassed and not wanting the scores of school kids mulling around, and most of all Millie, thinking he’s a wimp, David stalks unflinchingly onto the cracking ice to retrieve the globe perched upon a puffy ice flaked pillow of snow. As the thinning ice begins to split, Millie screams for David to not go after the treasure, knowing that it is a foolish thing to attempt. Knowing that there is no escape from the icy tomb of freezing water once the ice opens and the lake sucks him in. As the warning leaves her lips the weakened ice gives way with an ominous crack and David Rice is swallowed by the freezing lake and sucked kicking into what very well seems like the sluiced grave of certain death. Little does David Rice know this is the first in a million escapes from a million places in a million situations for the rest of his life. David Rice is a Jumper. Not a bad opening for this flick based on the novel Jumper by Steven Gould. But, unfortunately for the characters, the viewer and the movie “Jumper,” the rest of the film just doesn’t go anywhere. It has all the right elements. The mysterious power David Rice (Hayden Christensen) suddenly finds himself with. The beautiful girl of David’s dreams, Millie Harris (Rachel Bilson) who gets suddenly caught up in the action and who’s life becomes endangered by David’s powers. The discovery of other Jumpers, and the comrade David finds in fellow Jumper Griffen (Jamie Bell) as they team up to fight the battle of their lives. This battle against the hunter villain, Roland (Samuel L. Jackson) known as a Paladin, who hunts Jumpers to kill them and rid the world of their presence. I just never became involved with the characters. There were attempts at greatness with the story sending it’s main character jumping through worm holes from New York to London To Giza and Tokyo and the effects were eye catching. There were many grand visions, like David surfing one moment in Fiji, then the next perched atop the Sphinx in a lawn chair eating his lunch. But for all the action sequences and even some good acting, there was a missing element I believe best described as heart. Even though this movie is rated PG-13, I recommend families not allow their young children, especially those under 13 to see this film. Here is a spoiler: There is a scene where Roland the Paladin captures a jumper, strings him up between some trees on electric tethers and shoots electricity through his brain. The jumper screams in agony. Then Roland takes a knife and stabs the jumper in the chest and twists it in while a close up of the jumper’s face is shown wrenching in the throws of death as he screams his last. There was a family sitting behind me who had children around 10 to twelve with them, and it broke my heart to listen to the little boy crying and asking his Mother to “stop it”… he couldn’t take the shock and realism of the scene. Even though it was short and no blood was shown, it was still a traumatic experience, even for me. I can only imagine how young children would take it. There also are three uses of foul language including the f-word. There is a love scene where the main characters are shown kissing then lustfully taking off each others clothes and laughing, they fall into a bed in a motel. That is all that is shown, but I want to point out two things which concern me. One is that this film is rated PG-13 and that sex before marriage, and lust along with it, between two people who hardly know one another is portrayed as normal and right. Two is that the female character, although over 21, goes off half way around the world with a man she hardly knows without a second thought. She then proceeds to share his bed, in doing so she places herself in danger, nearly loosing her life. I understand this is a fictional story, but young girls will identify with the main female character and equate it as just fine to go off with, and make love with, a boy one hardly knows without understanding the consequences attached. Also, it is treated as comical that David can jump in and out of bank vaults at will, stealing the money to live his life in luxury, never paying the price for the crime. He is shown as a spoiled, self-indulgent man in the beginning, and I got the feeling there was a half-hearted attempt at a lesson learned in the end. That lesson being: he has a responsibility to himself and to others because he has been endowed with his special power. There was a weak nod to the fact that David had learned this grave lesson and that he was beginning to see his powers have a high price in the end, but it just was so foggy that I know this lesson will go right over the heads of young kids who watch this movie. To sum things up from a Christian perspective, what could have been a great super hero type movie in the same vein as Spiderman or Superman with many lessons on the value of true love, honor, self sacrifice, the evils of selfishness and greed, revenge and lawlessness,” Jumper” is a movie that fails us not for lack of substance, but for lack of continuity and style as well. It never is made clear why David Rice has the ability to magically “Jump” in present time, from place to place around the world. While I was watching a million questions popped into my head that were never answered like where could a jumper actually jump? Can they merely look at a picture of a location and leap there, as was suggested, or do they have to physically visit a spot before teleporting to it? David mentions something about “jumping spots” he has created around Tokyo and other places, but the science behind the teleportation is never made clear. Why do Jumpers exist anyway? Where do they come from? Why do they need to be hunted and killed by Paladins? Who are Paladins, where did they start and who was the first one? How is it possible for David’s Mom to be one and have a “jumper” for a child? Why does this movie make no sense? Why did it leave me flat even though the acting wasn’t half bad and the special effects were clever? Why can’t a wonderful actor, with such raw energy like Hayden Christensen get better parts? Save this one to rent when it comes out on DVD, so you can at least sit with your over 16 aged kids and explain, explain, explain. Violence: Heavy / Profanity: Mild / Sex/Nudity: Moderate See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.   Comments below:
Positive
Positive - It was entertaining. But the name of the Lord was used with vulgarity two times. There was a scene where the main character picks up a young woman at a the bar and sleeps with her, but part of the movie's point was that with money and everything the world thinks that it wants, is still not fulfilling. He does also sleep with the leading woman character also that he is not married to. He lives by stealing and the ending of the film basically condones it. Obviously, moral values were low, but entertaining and well made for a sci-fi type pick. Definitely not recommended for children or Christian teenagers. Negative
Negative - This movie had some potential on an interesting premise but completely fails to deliver with it's uninspired characters and worldly views. Negative - The Reviewer above hit the nail on the head with this movie. It is a fresh, original idea which could have gone far, but the ball was dropped way short of the goal line. The movie starts in a promising way but then rambles and drags too much. There is also a definite attempt by the director/producer to attack Christians, or at least people of faith. The bad guys who try to kill Jumpers do so with the sole explanation that 'only God should have this kind of power.' Of course, only God does have this kind of power, but if He were not the only one, there would be no reason to kill those who do have such power. This is just a blatant attack at people of faith when many other explanations for this murderous rage against Jumpers could have been offered, from envy to fear. Fortunately, the sex scene is brief. There is also one unexpected use of the 'F' word and several other instances of bad language. And, as the reviewer stated, the main character robs from banks with no little or no remorse. The only person who says 'there are always consequences' to such behavior is the bad guy! So, morality gets turned upside down somewhat. Negative - The reviewer has done an excellent job of presenting an accurate picture of this movie. 'Jumper' looks so good and says so little of meaning or value. It was so hard to like anyone in this story. Every main character was just plain disgusting. It was hard to care who won. And no one did, especially the people watching the movie. Negative - While I wouldn't say this move was awful, it was more like a made for TV movie. I must disagree with Sheri McMurray's opinion that the acting of Hayden Christensen was wonderful. I found him to be very stiff and unlikable. While the first half held promise, I was let down once the movie reached the point where David Rice went from age 15 to 23. Christians should be warned that the Paladins who hunt and kill Jumpers are portrayed as Christian zealots who were also responsible for the Crusades. The Samuel L. Jackson character states before he kills that only God can be all places. While I'm sure this is true to the book (which I have not read), I found it offensive as a Christian. What with the F-word mentioned and the impression of un-married sex, this movie really crosses the line PG-13 line and should be avoided by children. To top it off, the movie leaves several open ended storylines. It's obvious that the makers were setting us up for a sequel. Let's hope they never get that far. Negative - The film takes on the underlying theme of clerics (I hope I spelt that right) versus power-'gifted' humans. The power-gifted ones have the ability to transport anywhere they deem possible (like x-men's nightcrawler). The key re-iterated phrase if I remember it well comes from the lead cleric which goes, 'Only god should have such power'. I stated 'god' instead of 'God' because I am not sure which God he is referring to, nevertheless the gifted 'heroes' come out winning in the end. Negative - I should have come to this site and read the review before I wasted my time and money on this movie. I am however an easy mark for a sci-fi movie that even looks half good in the previews. This movie had great potential but suffers from a totally non-christian worldview that suggests that if something feels good and you can get away with it, then you should go for it, how foolish, moronic and spiritually bankrupt can you get? Very much so if your hollywood, this movie continues the trend of our pop culture into casual sex, drugs, vulgarity, violence, corrupt communication and just about any other perverted twisted demonic situation the clueless writers and directors can slap together to suck up our bucks. Forgive me for sending them more of our Lords resources to perpetuate such meaningless garbage. Pray for me that I'll resist the temptation to see a movie before I come here and read the excellent reviews. God Bless. Negative - I was very much excited to see the movie while watching the trailer, I thought this movie has a new and fresh ideas, and could bring the viewer imagination further with the plot. After seeing this movie, what I got is the opposite. I watched Hayden Christensen in The Shattered Glass and I was glad to see his acting was much better than he did in Star Wars, but his performance is going down again in this movie. Negative - I'll admit, upon first seeing 'Jumper', I enjoyed it basically. Yes, the scenes of violence, especially when you see the paladin Roland, played by Samuel l. Jackson, kill the jumper hanging in the tree, were disturbing. And many good points have been made by others as to the lack of morals being displayed in this film (stealing, sex, no consequences, etc.). But after thinking about the movie more, it struck me how much it was against believers in general. As has been pointed out, there were references to the fact that only God should have such powers, but it was more than that. The paladins were referred to as religious fanatics at one point. The whole idea of people trying to bring justice to others who were breaking the law was played as a bad thing. And there was a scene where the main character was watching a news broadcast about a flood where people were in terrible trouble. The news broadcaster even says that it would take a miracle to save them. Instead of doing anything to help, the main character makes a point of turning his back on the broadcast. It was an obvious display of being completely hard-hearted and self-centered. And this was the 'hero' of the story. Satan is doing a very good job of setting God up as the 'bad guy' in the minds of so many unsuspecting people out there. There have been a lot of movies over the years with this sort of message, but I am becoming quite disturbed as to how the number of these types of films, books, and shows has increased even more in the last few years. I can't deny that I enjoy movies alot, and will continue to do so, but I do believe that I will be more aware of what I, and my children, watch. 'Jumper' is an entertaining film, could have been explained a little better, but the special effects were fun. Yet, I must agree that as a parent, you should see it before allowing your kids to. Make your own judgments first. Neutral
Neutral - So after seeing the trailer for this movie, I was SO excited to go see it with my dad! Well, we went to see it today and it was alright. The concept of the story was really good and the action was awesome too! But there was a little sexuality in it (implied scene and a scene where boy and girl strip down to underwear, then nothing else is shown). There is also a little language. The quality of the movie, the way it was made was also very good. But the movie overall just didn't impress like I thought it would. Overall, it was just ok. Its not one of those movies where you are like 'oh my goodness, got to see that again.' Neutral - This film was not very entertaining. Concepts were taken from previous movies and rolled in one. Acting was boring. I noticed a obscene gesture made and reference to fornication. I seen Star Wars and the matrix and x-men from which this movie was taken. Disregard for human life as this was the eternalized witch hunt. Of coarse back when people were murdered because they were thought to be witches and most never practiced it. The so called righteous killing off the evil sinners. This in my opinion wasn't worth the money to see it. Neutral - I agree with the review. This was an excellent idea for a film, but could have done much better. The effects in the film are excellent and a unique plot sets it up for (2 more?) films. Comments from young people
Neutral - Relatively good movie one brief inappropriate scene and somewhat harsh language but other than that good move. Neutral - We saw this film with our church youth group last Sunday afternoon and thought that the plot was somewhat questionable but the special effects were most pleasing. As a Christian, the movie had no biblical references and was not Christ centered. However, the film explored the concepts between good and evil which is important but it didn't necessarily portray the biblical view. Movie Critics
“…goes nowhere. Fast.… All the state-of-the-art visual effects in the world can't compensate for spotty plotting and bland characters that prevent an intriguing premise from going the distance.…” “…Slick but extremely slim… a serviceable sci-fi thriller/videogame template that plays like ‘The Matrix Lite’ and, finally, isn't nearly as cool as its trailer…” “…Geared toward a youthful audience by its pounding score that will no doubt sell a bunch of CDs, the intriguing premise goes the way of spirited action adventure rather than dramatic metaphor.…” |
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