Coverage:
by
Laurence Washington

Cotton-top Samuel L. Jackson administers more than a little pain to his former Jedi apprentice Hayden Christensen in “Jumper” – an implausible sci-fi flick where individuals called Jumpers can transport themselves anywhere in the world just by envisioning where they’d like to travel. Christensen stars as Jumper David Rice, who uses his powers to pop in and out of bank vaults after hours to help himself to a plenitude of cash. Rice takes his spoils and moves into a posh Manhattan apartment that’s littered with postcards of places where he likes to jump, when he’s not robbing banks. Enter Roland (Samuel L. Jackson), a white-hair killer and avenging angel called a Paladin,  a race of beings who have been slaying Jumpers for centuries. Paladins see Jumpers as an abomination before God. So naturally Roland pursues Rice throughout the picture armed with a wicked tazergun that scrambles Jumper’s thoughts so they can’t concentrate on an escape location. A detriment to this film’s premise is the filmmakers offer no explanation whatsoever as to why Rice has the power to travel to the Sphinx, or survey London from the clock-face of Big Ben in the blink of an eye. Just one day Rice discovers he has supernatural powers. In addition, Rice is so callous with his powers, that it’s hard for the audience to identify with him. In fact, it’s easier to root for villain Samuel L. Jackson. Laden with a lot of ultra-cool special effects, one still can’t help but wonder where’s the beef in this hyper-action flick that jumps nowhere fast, and arrives there a little quicker.