Jumper (2008) More at IMDb Pro »

This is one of those films that starts off good, with a great premise, begins to become "so-so" halfway through, and then gets increasingly annoying to the point where you hate all the characters and the film is a chore to finish. I will say this: some of the action scenes at the end are the best of the movie and worth hanging around for, especially since the film is less than an hour-and-a-half. However, as most other reviewers seem to agree, when you have a lead character who is not likable, it really detracts from the story.

Hayden Christensen plays that lead, "David Rice," a young guy given the powers of teleporting, where he can instantly change where he is - from Ann Arbor to Cairo, if he so desires. After some practice, he can learn to bring other people and objects with him. The only times I've seen Christensen are when he's played "Anakin Sykwalker" in two installments of the mega-hit "Star Wars" films. (Jake Lloyd played the very young Skywalker in "Anakin's" first appearance.)

However, he's no "Skywalker" in this film, good-guy-wise. He isn't exactly "Peter Parker," either. As "Spiderman," Parker's creed is "With great power, comes great responsibility." With Rice, it's more like "get everything you can, and screw 'em!" I make the Spiderman analogy because Rice has super powers with the teleportation thing.

This is not a "superhero" movie, though, because the lead character is not a "hero," in any sense of the word. To emphasize that point, there's a scene early on in which Rice is watching a TV program about flood victims and he just nonchalantly walks away from the set, totally disinterested. That's one of the points: the kid has these powers to do some good and could care less. The problem with that, beside the obvious moral shortcomings, is that it doesn't give the viewer - you and me - anyone to really root for in the picture. He meets another teleporter and that guy is the same: a slimeball only interested in saving his own skin. That guy is "Griffin," an Irishman who, as a kid, played the lead in "Billy Elliott." The villain in the movie is "Roland," played by Samuel L. Jackson's who sports a ridiculous-looking ultra-white "do." He plays a "religious zealot" (there is no other kind in the film world) out to kill all the teleporters. He's a "paladin," as is someone else in the film, which is a surprise.

Since none of the characters were anyone you could root for, I tried to just sat back and enjoy the special-effects and the scenery, which were the positive points of the movie. We get quick tours of the world, from the Grand Canyon to Rome, and the special-effects of the teleporters "jumping" from one location to another was cool.

There was a love interest but little chemistry between David and "Millie" (Rachel Belson), a pretty but another annoying character.

So there you have it: the good and the bad. At least you've been warned.