2 posts tagged “jumper”
This movie is hard for me to judge fairly because I've read the original comic book and the film is very different than the source material. The comic book is based on the premise: "What if the supervillains won and ruled the world?" In this world it turns out that all the supervillains teamed up and killed the heroes. Then, to make sure that no one would ever try to take them down, they made everyone in the world forget that superheroes ever existed and the control the world in secret as a kind of super-mafia.
In the movie the villains have been replaced with a league of assassins who have almost superhuman abilities. They have been around for a thousand years and kill people in order to guide the fate of the world.
Both films feature a man who is in a dead end job and one day finds out that his absentee father was the best killer in the world and has just been killed. He is then indoctrinated into the world behind the world.
Both the film and the comic feature some over the top murders and action scenes. However, they work better in the comic book because while the police don't know about the supervillains, the know enough to not ask questions and the villains can kill with impunity. In the film, however, they are secretive and the police are theoretically after them but they act as if they are above the law and there's never anything more than a newspaper headline to indicate that their over the top highly public murders have garnered any attention from the police.
There's also the fact that in the comic book the lead characters were drawn to look like Eminem and Halle Berry. In the film they are played by James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie. As good a job as Jolie does, I can't help but be distracted by the difference and disappointed that they had to get a white woman to play a role created for a black woman. McAvoy also kind of irritated me but I'm not sure why. It wasn't a big deal in his situation but it did come up from time to time.
As a stand alone film, I guess it was good. However, it could have been much more. It starts off very Fight Club-esque and it seems as if there will be some attempt to make a comment on the inanity of corporate life and the "waning of affect" that Frederic Jameson says is occurring. There is even a mention of an Ikea table -- which oddly isn't a table at all but rather a cheesy laminate counter top island.
After that interesting beginning, however, it quickly turns into Jumper. Full of special effects -- which to be fair were a million times better and more exciting than Jumper -- but basically being yet another story about daddy issues and fulfilling a destiny. Substitute Jamie Bell's mentor/teacher role in Jumper with Jolie in this and Samuel L. Jackson's older wiser potential mastermind who is one step ahead with Morgan Freeman's character and you've basically got the same film.
It is that notion that the main character is "fulfilling his destiny" that is perhaps most tiresome in this day. I wonder why it is that in a country where we worship the rugged individualist who can pull himself up by the bootstraps we have so many stories about the man who is born to a destiny and heir to become powerful because of his parents. Of course, to be fair the original story was written by a Scott and not an American so to ask why he wouldn't subscribe to American mythologies isn't fair.
The end is fairly close to the comic book and has an entertaining gun fight and is also surprisingly final. Had they tacked on a fairy tale ending it would have been much worse.
three thumbs up
the ending saves it
and Jolie is pretty good
different from the source
In the movie the villains have been replaced with a league of assassins who have almost superhuman abilities. They have been around for a thousand years and kill people in order to guide the fate of the world.
Both films feature a man who is in a dead end job and one day finds out that his absentee father was the best killer in the world and has just been killed. He is then indoctrinated into the world behind the world.
Both the film and the comic feature some over the top murders and action scenes. However, they work better in the comic book because while the police don't know about the supervillains, the know enough to not ask questions and the villains can kill with impunity. In the film, however, they are secretive and the police are theoretically after them but they act as if they are above the law and there's never anything more than a newspaper headline to indicate that their over the top highly public murders have garnered any attention from the police.
There's also the fact that in the comic book the lead characters were drawn to look like Eminem and Halle Berry. In the film they are played by James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie. As good a job as Jolie does, I can't help but be distracted by the difference and disappointed that they had to get a white woman to play a role created for a black woman. McAvoy also kind of irritated me but I'm not sure why. It wasn't a big deal in his situation but it did come up from time to time.
As a stand alone film, I guess it was good. However, it could have been much more. It starts off very Fight Club-esque and it seems as if there will be some attempt to make a comment on the inanity of corporate life and the "waning of affect" that Frederic Jameson says is occurring. There is even a mention of an Ikea table -- which oddly isn't a table at all but rather a cheesy laminate counter top island.
After that interesting beginning, however, it quickly turns into Jumper. Full of special effects -- which to be fair were a million times better and more exciting than Jumper -- but basically being yet another story about daddy issues and fulfilling a destiny. Substitute Jamie Bell's mentor/teacher role in Jumper with Jolie in this and Samuel L. Jackson's older wiser potential mastermind who is one step ahead with Morgan Freeman's character and you've basically got the same film.
It is that notion that the main character is "fulfilling his destiny" that is perhaps most tiresome in this day. I wonder why it is that in a country where we worship the rugged individualist who can pull himself up by the bootstraps we have so many stories about the man who is born to a destiny and heir to become powerful because of his parents. Of course, to be fair the original story was written by a Scott and not an American so to ask why he wouldn't subscribe to American mythologies isn't fair.
The end is fairly close to the comic book and has an entertaining gun fight and is also surprisingly final. Had they tacked on a fairy tale ending it would have been much worse.
three thumbs up
the ending saves it
and Jolie is pretty good
different from the source
The end of a movie can make a decent movie into a horrible movie or very rarely (I can't think of an example) make a decent movie into a good one.
Jumper is an example of the first kind of ending. Simply put, the ending of this movie is horrible. Nothing gets solved. No storyline are resolved. Nothing is ended. It is obvious that they really really want to make another one but after seeing this completely unsatisfying ending I won't be paying to see a sequel if one develops.
Really, if you have seen the trailer there is no reason to see this film. The trailer tells you exactly what happens. Guy can teleport. Guy is chased by Samuel L. Jackson. Guy meets another guy who can teleport. The end. That's it.
The poster says that it is by the director of the Bourne Identity and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I've never seen Mr. and Mrs. Smith and maybe it isn't his fault but whoever edited this film should be fired. I'm not talking about how individual scenes are put together. That's fine. But the way the film is put together there are scenes that suck any potential drama or surprise right out of the film. It might have been interesting to just have Jackson show up but instead he is shown following him. It also might have been interesting to have the other "jumper" show up but we also see him following the main character.
Now, I'm not expert but it seems to me that when we have these characters that surprise the main character by revealing something that the main character didn't know, it might be good to also have the audience surprised. Sure, there are reasons why it might not be the best way but it is so obvious who these people are that there is just no energy or excitement.
three thumbs down
boo-urns to this one
catch it on television
or you can skip it
Jumper is an example of the first kind of ending. Simply put, the ending of this movie is horrible. Nothing gets solved. No storyline are resolved. Nothing is ended. It is obvious that they really really want to make another one but after seeing this completely unsatisfying ending I won't be paying to see a sequel if one develops.
Really, if you have seen the trailer there is no reason to see this film. The trailer tells you exactly what happens. Guy can teleport. Guy is chased by Samuel L. Jackson. Guy meets another guy who can teleport. The end. That's it.
The poster says that it is by the director of the Bourne Identity and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I've never seen Mr. and Mrs. Smith and maybe it isn't his fault but whoever edited this film should be fired. I'm not talking about how individual scenes are put together. That's fine. But the way the film is put together there are scenes that suck any potential drama or surprise right out of the film. It might have been interesting to just have Jackson show up but instead he is shown following him. It also might have been interesting to have the other "jumper" show up but we also see him following the main character.
Now, I'm not expert but it seems to me that when we have these characters that surprise the main character by revealing something that the main character didn't know, it might be good to also have the audience surprised. Sure, there are reasons why it might not be the best way but it is so obvious who these people are that there is just no energy or excitement.
three thumbs down
boo-urns to this one
catch it on television
or you can skip it
