Movie Review: Jumper
People have been giving this one mixed reviews ever since it came out. I got a chance to see it when I was in England, since some movies don’t play there until some months after they’ve finished their run here, and I have to say that I rather liked it.The story: David is sort of your semi-geek/outcast who discovers that he has the ability to transport himself instantly to anywhere he wants to go. His abilities are initially triggered by a traumatic event–nearly drowning–but he learns quickly that he is able to control his abilities and soon leaves behind his old life, while everyone else thinks he’s dead, by stealing money from a bank and “living it large”.But there are some people who think David and others like him are wicked creations that should be destroyed. Soon, David finds himself in the middle of a battle that has been raging for hundreds of years as one secret group tries to exterminate another.The basic idea is pretty good. One thing that I think is a bonus for this movie is that the people who are supposed to be the good guys are rather ambiguous and you find yourself rooting for them not because they are the “good guys” but because they’re not as evil as the “bad guys”. Now to the break down: Direction 3/5One of the things I think is a problem for Hayden Christensen is not that he’s an absolutely terrible actor, but that directors really don’t work with him. Yes, some of Christensen’s dialogue is stilted and often times he comes off amateur, but then there are times when he is actually decent, if not good. This makes me instantly wonder who the directors are who have direct control of how scenes go and why they aren’t making Christensen do several different takes of the same scene to get the one that works best. George Lucas aside, I think the direction in Jumper is decent, but nothing incredible. No awards needed here. It’s good enough to get the job done and I think that’s all that matters. Many of the scenes work well, some are a bit flawed. The problems with the movie stem more from the story itself rather than in direction. So a 3 out of 5 is pretty good I think. Cast 3/5I can’t say that the cast is the best choice for this film. Christensen works for the film, but many of the things people don’t like about him do show up here, but in lower frequency than we saw in Star Wars. Samuel L. Jackson is really difficult to dislike, and here I think he is at his strong point. He should play bad guys more often because his Pulp Fiction aggressiveness really plays well in that “bad guy” role, especially when there is a slight bit of ambiguity to the nature of the bad guy. After all, Roland (Jackson’s character) thinks that he is doing what is right because history has shown legitimate reason for him to hate these “jumpers”. Rachel Bilson as Millie is pretty strong too. There are no stellar performances here, but nothing that would make me hate the movie. Adaptation N/AI never read the book so I can’t make any judgment here. Writing 3/5Since I haven’t read the book I can’t tell you what the differences are and whether such changes were good. I also can’t tell you if the ending is different. The writing is decent, but nothing spectacular. The only problem I have is that there are loose ends that are never explained in the end. What happens to the other “jumper”? Does he die? Does he get away? What? I’m not a fan of loose ends. In fact, they tend to really annoy me. There’s no reason they couldn’t explain what happens to the other “jumper”. Couldn’t they just show David (Christensen) looking at a news report showing the guy being captured or something? Wouldn’t that work? There are some other minor flaws too. The movie tries to establish a rocky relationship between David and his father, but it’s never really clear that there is a “bad” relationship. We never see his father beat him, or treat him in any way that could be seen as “bad”. In fact, we only see his father showing concern in a very “rough”, fatherly way.Beyond that, the writing is solid enough. The action is pretty solid and entertaining. Visuals 5/5It’s hard not to like the visuals here. They did a fantastic job showing all the jumps. It’s cool to see regular activities (like walking to the fridge) turned into a jump fest. The action sequences are like an amped up Nightcrawler scene, without the scary monsterness to it. There isn’t really anything bad about the visuals at all, which is probably the strongest thing for the whole film. There’s never a point where you go “well that looks like CGed garbage”. Basically, the visuals are perfect, some of them even stunning. There isn’t a lot of heavy CG, and the scenery itself is really brilliant. They actually went to the Colosseum in Rome! Overall 3.5/5I think when it comes down to it I can say I enjoyed the film more than I disliked it. This isn’t an award winner, but certainly one worth remembering. The action was solid and really kept me fascinated. There is a lot of conflict between characters (even between the “good guys”) and the ambiguity really added to the suspense. The “bad guys” don’t seem so bad at first, but actually seem like the good guys, since the “good guy” (David) is technically a “bad guy” anyway. Then things change and you actually see how bad the “bad guys” really are, and when David meets another “jumper” it becomes even more ambiguous. The “jumper” is, in some ways, just as bad as the “bad guys”. I love this is films because it makes you really think about the nature of good and evil
SF/F Links: March/April Roundup
A little delayed, but finally I have some links for you all. There are loads more, so I think I’m going to have to go with a weekly schedule so it doesn’t pile up like it is doing now. In any case, here are the links: io9 Things you can do to help create artificial intelligences! You’d be surprised what simple things there are that can help in that field. Stuff you might already do regularly. Post-apocalyptic scenes made out of food! I had a link similar to this from Listverse a long while back. This is in the same vein and amazing. Anyone wanting some advice on map-making should start looking at vector maps of things on other planets and moons in our solar system. Seriously, go to this vector map of a methane sea on Titan and see how cool extraterrestrial maps are! Six earth cities that will give us ideas on how to colonize Mars. This is pretty cool actually. Rather interesting when you look at it from a realistic perspective. The Navy announces a five-year plan to build laser blasters. We’ve gotta keep up with those Chinese guys somehow right? Yeah. Good idea, but I wonder who is paying for it. Got a bum kidney? Well apparently there is a new way to get rid of them: give birth to it. Yeah, I don’t quite understand it either, but give it a look. New medical practices are revolutionizing how we do things these days. Nano-wire shirt that generates electricity while you move, but burns out if you sweat on it. Good idea, needs rethinking. A new biomedical gel that can fix your severed spine. Works on mice, should work on us. Paralysis might not be a problem of the future! Listverse Top 10 Ways to Fly Under the Radar. Yup, for all you ex-cons out there, or anyone writing about ex-cons. 10 Great Inventions That Should Be Invented! Interstellar travel here we come! Universe Today Quantum communications might be viable in the near future if we get on top of it like this article suggests. Astrium, from good old Europe, is ramping up plans to mass produce space planes. Yup, good stuff indeed. Cassini picks up hints of organic chemicals shooting off from Saturn’s Enceladus! Cool stuff indeed! 13.73 Billion Years. That’s the current measurement of how old the Universe is. Find out about it here. Hawaiin hippy files lawsuit against the Large Hadron Collider. Go away and stop fooling with complex science that you don’t understand! New research suggests that galaxies with quasars in the middle are not so good for planet formation. Yup, not good at all. I found this online somewhere (if I got it from you, please let me know). This is a look at the differences of opinion between the U.S. and England. It’s amazing how different we are. They are, by and large, far more progressive than we are. This image of these concept designs of future robotic police forces are amazing. Check out the gallery too. Simply stunning image. Michio Kaku on things we’ll probably never see. Sadly, he’s likely right. Ten sci-fi movie survival tips. Screaming is good, though. Scifi reading list with the subject “not quite human”. Lots of goodies in there. (Courtesy of SF Signal, I think) New Scientist Scientists have found the answer to the origins of two mysterious meteorites found in Antarctica. Find out here! Find ISS in this picture and you win nothing, because I have nothing to give. This is amazing though: a picture of the International Space Station over the Sun! Chrononautic Log has a video of a bizarre insect-like robot. Check it out. L. E. Modesitt, Jr. talks about SF’s ability to predict the future. Good stuff as usual. One of the coolest things that has ever been desired by Kung Fu fans since Bruce Lee died is now about to happen: Jackie Chan and Jet Li are getting together to make a movie! Yes, look at the trailer now! MentalFloss has 5 reasons why we’ll miss Arthur C. Clarke. *sniff* (By the way, some of these aren’t related to literature, just so you know) Mike Brotherton has a hard SF writer’s bookshelf. Good stuff, check it out if you are even marginally interested in writing SF. Dave Walton’s page of writing advice. There is a whole lot of stuff here. Seriously. A LOT. Like two books worth. Space.com has this cool article about alien sociology. So, are the aliens going to come and kill us? Hmm? Cyber-cops are getting organized. Watch out hackers! CERN, the most complicated thing humans have built thus far! The Thinking Blog profiles it. Want to know how bad the economy really is? Look at these poor folks. Yeah, Mr. Bush, this is what you’ve done to this country. Congrats.