Jumper 2008

Jumper is a 2008 American science fiction film, loosely based on the 1992 science fiction novel of the same name by Steven Gould. The film is directed by Doug Liman and stars Hayden Christensen, Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Bell, Rachel Bilson, Max Thieriot, AnnaSophia Robb, and Diane Lane. The film follows a young man capable of teleporting as he is chased by a secret society intent on killing him.

The script went through a rewrite prior to filming and the roles for the main characters were changed during production. Jumper was filmed in 20 cities in 14 countries between 2006 and 2007. The film was released on February 14, 2008 and a soundtrack was released on February 19. The film held the first position in its opening weekend with $27.3 million, but despite this success, reviews from critics were generally negative.

Plot

In Ann Arbor, Michigan, teenager David Rice (Max Thieriot) gives his crush, Millie, a snow globe containing the Eiffel Tower, knowing her dreams of traveling someday. A bully, Mark, throws the globe onto the ice near a river. While trying to retrieve it, David falls through the ice and is pulled away by the current. He suddenly finds himself in the local library with drenched clothes. He discovers he can "Jump", or teleport, disappearing from one place and instantly appearing in another. Unhappy with his life, he runs away and is believed dead by his alcoholic father.

Eight years later, an adult David has settled into a life of adventure. He spends his days jumping around various continents, doing various sports and living lavishly using money stolen from banks via his jumping abilities. We also see him observing a natural disaster on the TV news, but not even consider using his powers to save the people. After a day of hedonistic jumping, including seducing and sleeping with a woman in London, he is ambushed in his home by Roland Cox. Cox tries to trap him with a system of high-voltage cables, which prevent him from being able to jump. David escapes and returns home to Ann Arbor, seeking Millie. He is attacked by Mark and purposely teleports him into a bank vault. He leaves him there and returns to Millie, inviting her to travel with him (by conventional means) to Rome. Roland – who we see heads an organisation dedicated to killing these "abominations" because "only God should have the power to be everywhere" – later discovers Mark in police custody and so learns David's identity.

David and Millie arrive in Rome, he attempting to keep his true nature as a thief and his powers a secret from her. After talking, they share a kiss and have sex. David and Millie visit the Colosseum, only to find it closed. David uses his abilities to unlock a door from the inside, telling a skeptical Millie the door was already unlocked. While opening another door, he discovers another Jumper, Griffin. He warns David that "Paladins" are coming – an extremist group who has been tracking down and killing Jumpers from "the beginning." Several Paladins show up and attack them. Griffin kills one and teleports, taking the body with him. David tries to leave with Millie, but is detained by Italian police and questioned about the death. While waiting for a magistrate to arrive, David's mother Mary, who had left David when he was five, appears and throws him the keys to his handcuffs. She tells him he has very little time to leave. David tries to follow her, but she says if he wants the girl to live he must leave now. David tells Millie the police let him go and they leave together. Millie, now very suspicious, demands the truth. David declines and puts her on a plane home.

David jumps to Griffin's lair, asking where to find Roland. Griffin explains that Paladins are religious fanatics who believe Jumpers are an affront to God and have been hunting them for centuries. He also says that Paladins will kill Jumpers by targeting their loved ones. He has been trying to kill Roland for years, as the Paladins killed his parents when he was a child and have tried to kill him several times. David teleports to his father, finds him bleeding and teleports him to a hospital. He returns to Griffin and convinces him to go with him to the airport to greet Millie. Upon arriving, they realize her flight landed an hour earlier. Griffin returns to his lair to get weapons while David searches for Millie. He breaks into her apartment, angering Millie, who tells him to leave. Through the living room window David sees Roland arriving and shows her what he can do, and save her, by teleporting her back to Griffin's lair. The Paladins follow using a machine that keeps the "jump scar" (wormhole) open and fight with David and Griffin. Roland is chased back through the portal, but snatches Millie back to her apartment with a cable.

Griffin decides to take a bomb to Millie's apartment and kill everyone. David refuses, wanting to save Millie. They fight through several locations, and David traps Griffin with power lines in a war zone. Griffin warns that if he faces the Paladins alone he will be outnumbered. He goes anyway and is quickly trapped by Roland's electric cables. David cannot escape as he is physically tied to the apartment by the cables. Using his teleporting powers David separates the apartment from the rest of the building and teleports that section away, along with Roland, Millie and himself, back to the lake he fell through the ice into as a child. Once free of the cables (while still underwater) David teleports to the library with Millie, as well as an unwelcome Roland. David then grabs Roland and takes him to a cave in the Grand Canyon, abandoning him there, and telling him that he could have been killed instead.

David visits his mother and is stunned when a girl, his half-sister, Sophie, answers the door. Mary tells David she has known he was a Jumper since he was five, when Jumpers make their first Jump. She is a Paladin, and had to either kill David or leave. She again allows him to leave, allowing him a "head start". He meets with Millie outside and they jump to an unknown location.

Cast

Hayden Christensen (Max Thieriot, teenage) as David Rice, the film's protagonist. He's a young man who discovers the ability to teleport or "jump". David turns rebellious when he is caught in the middle of the century war between the Paladins and Jumpers.

Rachel Bilson (Annasophia Robb, teenage) as Millie Harris, David's childhood friend and crush who later becomes his girlfriend.

Samuel L. Jackson as Roland Cox, the leader of the Paladins whose goal is to kill Jumpers. Roland serves as the film's main antagonist.

Jamie Bell as Griffin, a renegade jumper who tracks down and eliminates Paladins.

Kristen Stewart as Sophie.

Diane Lane as Mary Rice, David's mother who separated from her son when he was five years old.

Teddy Dunn (Jesse James, teenage) as Mark Kobold, David's childhood bully.

Michael Rooker as William Rice, David's father.