Jumper

Jumper is an excellent book and a mediocre movie. I will recommend the book highly. It deals with a serious topic of prejudice, specie-ism and alienation. Written by Steve Gould it is an excellent read.

The movie deals mildly with these topics, but is more often than not relegated to the realm of candy floss depictions of these topics. I like Hayden Christensen in his role, and the love interest portrayed by Rachel Bilson is nicely done, but Steven Gould obviously was forced to PC up the content. Instead of depictions of truly evil, shadowy figures led by a serious fanatic, we got a half-hearted villain in the person of a white headed Samuel L. Jackson. The special effects were very nicely done, and take a serious role in the film. Budget was not spared to give us views of most of the worlds major tourist spots.

I have to say that if my Mom had left me and my Dad when I was 5, and then 14 or so years later a tall man with a taser showed up and tried to kill me, and then killed my father, who didn't really understand me, but covered for me and tried to protect me, I'd make sure his death was both slow and an example to others to stay the hell away from me in the future. Torture might even be involved to determine what I had to watch out for. Learning that my Mom was on the side of the folks trying to kill me wouldn't induce any warm fuzzy's either. The film glosses over all that, and leaves us with the feeling that this was a mere setup for the sequel.

I hope Steve Gould makes a bunch of money from these, but they aren't gonna be the Bourne movies by any stretch of the imagination.

Critiquegod's rating. A for Acceptable