Jumper

Though a mild improvement over Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Jumper nevertheless suffers from precisely the sort of problems filmmaker Doug Liman has come to be associated with in recent years – with the director’s continued emphasis on big action sequences rather than coherent storytelling clearly the most problematic (and recurring) deficiency within his work. The frenetic plot follows a young man (Hayden Christensen’s David) whose ability to instantaneously teleport to anywhere in the world has caught the attention of Samuel L. Jackson’s villainous Roland, and much of the movie follows David’s efforts at battling Roland along with the help of fellow jumper Griffin (Jamie Bell). Screenwriters David S. Goyer, Jim Uhls, and Simon Kinberg – working from Steven Gould’s novel – have infused Jumper with a schizophrenic sensibility that ensures that the movie is rarely boring, though it often does feel like the scripters have attempted to cram too much story into the film’s 88 minutes. There’s consequently little doubt that the narrative generally sputters along in fits and starts, as it’s in the copious action sequences that Jumper manages to hold one’s interest (such moments are awfully well done, admittedly, despite Liman’s relentless reliance on quick cuts and shaky camerawork). The end result is a mindlessly engaging piece of escapist fare that benefits from its uniformly able performances and refreshingly brisk running time, yet it’s certainly impossible not to wonder when (or if) Liman will return to the comparatively masterful territory of early efforts like Swingers and Go.

**1/2 out of ****