So indefensibly bad that it goes beyond awfulness to become, if not good, then at least hugely entertaining in its unintended hilarity and transcendent dopiness.
Jumper (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:158
Fresh:25
Rotten:133
Average Rating:4/10
Consensus: Featuring uninvolving characters and loose narrative, Jumper is an erratic action pic with little coherence and lackluster special effects.
Rated: 12A [See Full Rating] for sequences of intense action violence, some language and brief sexuality.
Runtime: 90 mins
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
Theatrical Release:14-02-2008
Synopsis: Based on Steven Gould's critically acclaimed novel, JUMPER leaps onto the screen courtesy of director Doug Liman. David (Hayden Christiansen) has inexplicably been given the power to teleport... Based on Steven Gould's critically acclaimed novel, JUMPER leaps onto the screen courtesy of director Doug Liman. David (Hayden Christiansen) has inexplicably been given the power to teleport himself, or jump. He can jump into a bank vault, then to the top of the Sphinx, then back to his luxury Manhattan apartment. But despite all his power, he still misses his childhood love, Millie (Rachel Bilson, THE O.C.). When the opportunity arises, David jets off to Rome with Millie, but it's not all romance in the Italian city. David's unique abilities place him in the middle of a war between the jumpers and the paladins, a secretive group intent on hunting down the teleporters. Led by Roland (Samuel L. Jackson), the paladins track David and fellow jumper Griffin (Jamie Bell) across the world, and Millie may be caught in the crossfire. JUMPER moves as fast as its teleporting hero, condensing the novel into a slim, action-packed offering. The slick special effects and impressive locations are certainly on par with Liman's previous work in THE BOURNE IDENTITY and MR. AND MRS. SMITH, but JUMPER bears a closer resemblance to comic book adaptations. Like Spider-man and most other costume-clad protagonists with unearthly abilities, David grapples with his newfound talents. But unlike his tights-and-cape-wearing brethren, David doesn't use his ability for the greater good. Instead, it gets him piles of money and, perhaps, the girl he's been dreaming of since he was five years old. Though most action films are driven by the struggle between good and evil, JUMPER interestingly offers up a central character who lies somewhere in the middle. Slightly less ambiguous is the film's ending that leaves the option for a sequel completely open. [More]
Starring: Hayden Christensen, Jamie Bell, Rachel Bilson, Samuel L. Jackson
Starring: Hayden Christensen, Jamie Bell, Rachel Bilson, Samuel L. Jackson, Diane Lane, Michael Rooker, AnnaSophia Robb, Max Thierot
Director: Doug Liman
Director: Doug Liman
Screenwriter: David S. Goyer, Jim Uhls, Simon Kinberg
Producer: Arnon Milchan, Lucas Foster, Jay Sanders, Simon Kinberg
Composer: John Powell
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Reviews for Jumper
Boring, bland and nasty. Christensen is the new Ryan Phillippe - no compliment unless you enjoy annoyingly blah detachment. And Bilson is a damsel of whom you hope distress gets the better - anything to shut her droning, dull yap.
Jumper is like a glorified TV pilot from 2005, when supernatural dramas were all the rage. It will make it onto the schedule, but have its legs cut out from under it before the season is over.
The disappointments and the inexplicable plot turns kept mounting until I finally surrendered and just admitted it: This was just a goodlooking clunker.
One day, I feel sure, the rich mantle of charisma will descend upon [Hayden Christensen], but Jumper is not that occasion.
So lazily assembled and unenthusiastically performed that it could very well be an alternate cut of itself, assembled from takes that were justly consigned to the cutting room floor.
Hayden Christensen gets stuck in a globe-trotting fantasy that goes nowhere.
There's Samuel L. Jackson with frosty white hair snarling, 'There are ALWAYS! CONSEQUENCES!' That's worth some money, I suppose.
It feels like Jumper might have been longer at one point, then had everything but the action scenes removed. What plays on the screen is therefore an empty, hollow shell of a film that keeps you at arm's length.
...questions pop in and out of the picture almost as frequently as David himself.
More confusing action scenes than all three Bourne films put together.
Jumper is so bad that it might be useful in film classes to show students what not to do.
As a distinct premise, Jumper offers tantalizing possibilities. While the film speaks to some of the far-reaching potential of the power, though, it also follows story formulas that weaken it.
Jumper is riddled with plot holes and useless action sequences in a wasted attempt to fill time.
Jumper, based on the novel by Steven Gould, re-defines -- downward -- the notion of dreadful. It does so by dispensing with everything a movie needs for a shot at being merely awful.
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