Jumper Reviled

[lillibet]

This Slate review of the movie Jumpers is amusing me this morning. A few choice bits:

Hayden Christensen is an actor of precisely one affect: a petulant, boyish entitlement so impregnable it borders on malevolence.

...jumpers live life "with all the boring parts cut out." That would definitely rule out this movie.

Only Sam Jackson could spray in a way that makes you think, man, that's some badassed spraying.

Those [Swingers and Go] were movies about amoral jerks with pitiable aspirations toward a materialistically imagined "good life." So is Jumper; but it also feels, depressingly, like a movie by one.

Comments

[jelazakazone.livejournal.com]

I've read the books. They are very good. I have no interest in seeing the movies. I'd think they'd be way too violent for me.

[lillibet.livejournal.com]

I see so very few movies these days (I think three in theatres in the past year and maybe two more at home) that it's not even a choice for me. But yeah, nothing tempting in this one.

[dpolicar]

"Books", plural? There's a sequel?

[jelazakazone.livejournal.com]

Um, yeah. I think there are three books altogther. At least, that's what I recall reading....

There's "Jumper: Griffin's Story" which was written to be in line with the movie and then the sequel to "Jumper" is "Reflex". I thought "Reflex" was really quite good, although I see I gave both of them only three stars on goodreads. In my memory, Reflex is better than Griffin's Story.

[dpolicar]

neat.

[infinitehotel.livejournal.com]

It's bad. Very, very bad.

Which is too bad, because the fx are pretty good and there are a couple of decent actors and actresses hidden in the cast. (Jackson, Diane Lane, the Scottish kid.) The previews had me excited for it but even at 88 minutes, it was too long.

[ladrescher.livejournal.com]

I read that this morning when I came in to work. The part about Samuel L. spraying like a badass made me laugh out loud imagining it. That man has a gift: Badassery.

[istemi.livejournal.com]

He really did spray like a badass. I've been imagining him cleaning his house, Badass style. Spritzing the stovetop, action sequence with the swiffer, you name it, it would all be more interesting if Samuel L. Jackson did it.

[johnromkey.livejournal.com]

We saw it yesterday. We were trying to catch a last showing of Cloverfield before it closed, but it turned out the local theater lied and it had closed already, so we saw Jumper instead.

Mike and I both though afterwards that Hayden Christensen had one emote: pout. And he didn't have George Lucas to blame it on this time.

The movie was... dull. There were a few good moments. If the movie had been about Sam Jackson's character pursuing the Scottish jumper and Harden Christensen's character hadn't been in it at all... that would've been much better.

I wouldn't bother with it even on cable.

[dpolicar]

I really enjoyed the book.

I mean, great literature it ain't. But it's a sweet little young-adult book about a kid struggling with the temptations of power and vengeance and the usual adolescence turbulence surrounding sex and independence and renegotiating family relationships and looking for community.

I hadn't been aware there was a movie coming 'till I saw an ad recently, and thought "Oh, cool! That book would be a great movie!"

And then I looked at the IMDB description and was very, very sad. As the middle-aged folks pretending to be kids say: Do Not Want.

Oi!

[kalibex.livejournal.com]

"As the middle-aged folks pretending to be kids say: Do Not Want."

I thought we were pretending to be cats!