Day of the 'Dog: Jumper Review

Day of the Underdog: Underrated films that are worth watching

This will be a new feature to Movie Tirades. Mondays will now be the Day of the 'Dog, where I will feature what I think are vastly underrated films that slid under the radar from the past and present that are more than worth checking out. I’ll go into why I think they were ignored, and what makes my opinion of them so much higher than the norm.

This week’s 'dog: Jumper

IMDb score: 5.9

Why viewers didn’t like it: Let’s face it, Hayden Christensen might not have been the best choice in the world for Anakin Skywalker. Christ knows what Lucas was thinking when he decided to write the last three Star Wars himself, so obviously his judgment wasn’t quite right altogether. But that doesn’t mean that Christensen should be a Hollywood pariah for the rest of his career. Alas, this – in theory – is the reason that Jumper took such a hit at the box office, despite Christensen being a very believable David Rice.

The movie was a blend of all three Jumper novels by Steven Gould – taking jumper snippets about the way the ability worked from each one in what was more fitting for cinematic effect.

A bone of contention among Jumper critics is the archenemies of all jumpers: the paladins. Frankly, the hazy source and ambiguous motivation behind the paladins didn’t need any more explaining than the movie offered: the ability to teleport anywhere at any time would ruffle the feathers of quite a few agencies. Meaning that, if you can accept Davy’s ability to teleport, the rest of the movie plot is quite logical.

The far off places, the implications of instantaneous travel, and the special effects of the actual teleporting are all handled extremely well. While the movie certainly has me asking: “Why didn’t he just…?” or “I would have…” it is far from the typical Hollywood hero trope of powers being granted at the film’s beginning only to have them taken away as the character is “humanized” (see Robocop, Spider Man, The Crow, Hancock).

The acting, particularly between characters Griffin and David, was as it should be in an action, sci-fi film: not DeNiro, but not David Caruso, either. It beat the hell out of Toby McGuire crying (again) over MJ, and ole' spidey didn't get as lambasted by critics.

Popular critiques also include moviegoers who felt that while the idea was spectacular, the end product could have been so much more. I think, in part, when we're presented with a great plot device, we almost expect an epic on screen, and we grow angry when the credits roll after 90 minutes. But not all films can be (or need to be) Lord of the Rings to be ejoyable.

With a fast pace, a great concept, and a solid story, I found Jumper to be a real diamond in the rough. I didn’t even read the books until after the movie had come out, and probably wouldn’t have at all if not for the film. I'm just hoping that initial sour faces over Christensen and the supposed squandered potential of the film doesn't stymie the possiblity of a sequel.