Rating of
1.5/4
A step backward for Doug Liman
newmans_own - wrote on 02/15/08
All through the film, viewers are left with a, “yes, and…?” feeling. David’s only real ability is to teleport. Nothing else about him is remarkable; in most cases, he is even unable to make competent decisions. This likely explains the rushed nature of the film; at only 88 minutes, it only barely scratches the surface of its possibilities. The film’s blink-and-miss-it climax is the most criminal act. The final showdown doesn’t last much longer than two minutes. What we see is probably all the filmmakers could think of, and it certainly is disappointing, since David is adamant about not resorting to violence to save himself. One wonders whether he does this out of the goodness of his heart, or if it is completely unbelievable than Hayden Christensen could actually defeat Samuel L. Jackson in a fight.
The only bright spot in the cast is Jamie Bell, playing a squirrelly fellow Jumper. Bell, who manages to actually get laughs out of his lines, rises above the material with ease, committing himself to having fun rather than being serious. He has long been touted as one of the next big things, and his performance here is only more evidence for the case.
Liman’s action sequences, which were smooth and thrilling in films past, are jumbled and confusing here. The jumping effects, often occurring several times in a shot, are impressive, but when the editing becomes too frenetic and the camera becomes too shaky to make sense of much, we are left to wait distantly to see how things turn out.
*1/2/****
Full review at http://newmanscorner.blogspot.com
