| JUMPER (2008) : D.Liman : 5/10 |
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 "Bourne meets The Matrix" screams the British poster for Jumper, a high-concept, low-flair action-thriller aimed fairly squarely at multiplex audiences within the lucrative 15-25 age-bracket. Leaving aside the fact that the poster shows star Hayden Christensen wearing a very Neo-style long black leather coat - which never once actually appears in the film itself - that quote is somewhat optimistic and misleading, notwithstanding the fact that the film's director Doug Liman was himself responsible for the first of the Matt Damon Bourne movies. He jumped ship for Mr and Mrs Smith, allowing Paul Greengrass to take up the reins for Supremacy and Ultimatum - films which rather nearly illustrate the gulf between a lukewarm-competent journeyman and an electrifyingly skilled auteur. All credit, however, to Liman - who fluked a near-masterpiece a decade ago with Swingers (1996), and has since parlayed limited talents into a lucrative career. Swingers and his followup Go (1999) showed a knack for small-scale, indie-type subject-matter: a knack which makes Liman an uncomfortable fit for globe-trotting projects like Bourne and Jumper. Here the globe-trotting reaches near-satirical heights of exaggeration - its protagonist making Jason Bourne look like a sedentary agoraphobe. David Rice (Christensen) possesses the ability to teleport himself anywhere in the world simply by willpower: ZHUNK! Egypt! ZHUNK! Manhattan. ZHUNK! Rome. ZHUNK! Egypt (again - and again). ZHUNK! London. ZHUNK! It's nifty premise that, in the right hands, could have made for an enjoyably zappy-snazzy affair. Unfortunately Jumper seems to have passed through too many hands - none especially dextrous - en route to the screen. It's loosely based on Steven Gould's well-regarded 1993 novel, with three scriptwriters working (separately) on the script: David S Goyer (Blade trilogy); Jim Uhls (unexpectedly quiet since 1999's Fight Club) and Simon Kinberg. Of the three, Kinberg seems to have had most input: he was also responsible for the underrated X-Men : The Last Stand, which Jumper strongly recalls at various stages (David's never-explained "talent" is roughly equal-parts 'Nightcrawler' and 'Kitty Pryde'). As well as three scriptwriters, three editors are credited - and the net result of their labours feels choppy at 88 minutes, conspicuously short for a Hollywood 'actioner'. Not that the running-time passes especially briskly: in contrast to David's quicksilver velocity, the story feels oddly paceless and tension-free (there's none of the barrellingly urgent momentum of, say, Cloverfield). This may be a deliberate ploy to put us in David's shoes: from his perspective, the "normal" world must seem an intolerable miasma of delay and slowness. More likely, it's simply down to nebulous plotting. David does, however, have a rather Olympian disdain for us mere mortals - he even describes us as "chumps" during his opening narration. He's not the likeable of characters - even more so thanks to Christensen's pretty vacancy - and somewhere in the various script-rewrites there's perhaps some intention that David's globehopping devil-may-care existence is intended to symbolise the irresponsibility, rapaciousness and sasquatch-sized carbon-footprint of Young People Today (indeed, he's lectured more than once about how he must accept the "consequences" of his solipsistic behaviour.) And so we wait for him to get some kind of come-uppance - but this never actually arrives. Instead David sulks moodily around the screen, moping (less-than-convincingly) over his high-school sweetheart Millie (Rachel Bilson), whose imperilment provides what passes for dramatic propulsion. Rather more interesting is David's thorny relationship with fellow "jumper" Griffin - played by Jamie Bell with his own Teesside/American accent, and with a sparkily straightforward energy which makes Rice/Christensen seem even more sluggish in comparison. Samuel L Jackson turns up from time to time as a ruthless 'Paladin' (in the picture's half-baked, Night-Watch-ish mythology, Paladins have for centuries been the sworn enemies and hunters of Jumpers) but it's a sad day when SLJ is upstaged by his own hairdo: a Tippex-white buzzcut that seems unlikely to start much of a fashion-trend. Nor does Jumper itself seem likely to lead to anything much. There's definite scope for a sequel, but it seems unlikely that box-office returns will justify the continuation of the franchise, Bourne/Blade style. If so, let's hope that Liman once again passes on the reins to a more suitable colleague - or two. Perhaps the double-team of Eric Bress and J Mackye Gruber, who managed to injected The Butterfly Effect (2004) - another clear influence on Liman, Kinberg and co - with the kind of barnstorming energy and irrepressible vim which is needed to make such daft material palatable, and which Jumper only intermittently displays. ZHUNK! Neil Young 11.Feb.08 -------------------------------------------------------------------- USA 88m (BBFC timing) director : Doug Liman (Mr and Mrs Smith; The Bourne Identity; Go, etc) editors : Saar Klein (The New World; The Bourne Identity; Almost Famous, etc) Dean Zimmerman (Rush Hour 3.) Don Zimmerman (Rush Hour 3, Night at the Museum, Fun with Dick and Jane, etc) seen 11.Feb.08 Newcastle (Empire cinema : press show) -------------------------------------------------------------------- RECENTLY REVIEWED CLOVERFIELD : 7/10 THERE WILL BE BLOOD : 7/10 GONE BABY GONE : 7/10 UPCOMING U.S. RELEASE George A Romero's DIARY OF THE DEAD : 6/10 |
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