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DVD Review: Jumper
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By Graceland Geek

Jumper DVDJumper
Directed by Doug Liman
Starring Hayden Christensen, Jamie Bell, Samuel L. Jackson, Diane Lane, Max Thieriot
Rated PG-13
Fox Home Video
Release date: June 10, 2008

So this is a movie I have been excited about reviewing since I never went and saw it in the theaters and I was somewhat intrigued by it.

The film tells the story of David Rice (Hayden Christensen who one day discovers he can “Jump”; moving through space instantly at will. He decides to rob a bank and leave his single-parent father. You find out his mother left when he was five. For years he leads a life of adventure and excitement “jumping” from place to place and seeing the world.

The film moves slowly driven by its performances and story rather than its special effects and action. Rice’s main conflict revolves around his past catching up with him as well as an NSA agent named, Roland Cox, played by none other than Samuel L. Jackson. Ultimately, Rice meets another “Jumper” and he explains to him the origins and history of “jumping” as well as helps him. The last part of the story brings the romance element, which in a film like this it is almost expected.

Throughout the film the audience is thrust to many different locations across the world experiencing this great adventure of a kid who is just making his way in the world, he just does it a little differently than most people.

Essentially that is what the film is about, not the action, not the sc-fi elements but a person who is trying to find himself. The film lends itself to the director, Doug Liman, who makes it much like an indie film with the action and sci-fi becoming secondary. This allows the audience to care about the story and characters without having to wonder why or complain about special effects.

I will say this movie surprised me in way that it was entertaining and fun but it also wasn’t big and by that I mean the scale. It is interesting to point out that this movie was marketed like a summer movie but was released in February”¦just kind of weird and is probably why it was hurt in the box office.

The DVD contains some really cool special features including commentary, deleted scenes, an animated graphic novel, and featurettes.

Perhaps the best special feature standout on the DVD is “Doug Liman’s: Jumper Uncensored” which takes the audience on an in-depth documentary behind the scenes with him and the cast as they go from location to location to shoot the film. I found it very insightful and interesting how they filmed certain things as well as why they did things a certain way. It almost makes you feel you are part of the production and you learn something too.

Other cool featurettes include “Jumping Around the World,” which shows all the locations they shot at and when and “Making an Actor Jump,” which explores the special effects and how they came up with the teleport sequences as well as how they filmed them — this was really cool and interesting how non-complicated it was. The rest of the featurettes are good too, including the “Novel to Film” feature, that explores with Liman and book author, Steven Gould, how the story went from the book pages to the big screen and there is a featurettes of a pre-concept digital action sequence that shows early animation of an action sequence from the movie prior to filming.

I would say this DVD is worth buying for the simple fact if you enjoy movies that you just want to watch on a Saturday or Sunday and then learn something off the special features it is worth investing in. The story isn’t the greatest and most innovative plot but it captures your attention and you have fun, which is why we see movies in the first place.

Overall I rate the film a B- and the DVD a B+ for a decent entertaining story with great special features that help you understand the film and its concept much better.

4 Comments »

  1. I had a lot of fun with this movie, the first one I watched twice in one sitting in awhile. I know he doesn’t possess a whole lot of range, but I really like Hayden Christianson as an actor and I think he did a great job with this character. Also, the scenes with SFX where exhilerating, especially seeing how Griffin fights with his powers.

    Comment by JJ — June 9, 2008 @ 2:31 pm

  2. I was so stoked about this movie just because I’m a big Doug Liman fan (and by extension, the score composer, John Powell), but I didn’t get a chance to catch it in theaters.

    Looking forward to picking this one up.

    Comment by NeverWanderer — June 9, 2008 @ 6:15 pm

  3. Good review. I wished I liked this film more.

    Comment by Jerry — June 9, 2008 @ 11:02 pm

  4. I actually enjoyed this film despite the negative reviews. Griffin made the movie for me and hopefully he plays a more central role in the sequel.

    Comment by rbk — June 10, 2008 @ 6:40 pm

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