How to Watch Jumper

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By Joseph Campbell
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(14 Ratings)

Samuel L. Jackson stars in Jumper.

The high-octane adventure movie Jumper combines elements of comic book-style action, speculative science fiction and traditional epic mythology. Jumper stars Hayden Christensen as David Rice, a young man who discovers he has the mysterious ability to teleport, or "jump," at will. But like all great powers, as Spider Man's Uncle Ben was fond of saying, his newfound skills come with great responsibility--and grave danger. As it turns out, a secret society of warriors led by Roland Cox (Samuel L. Jackson) has sworn a blood pact to wipe the planet clean of pesky "Jumpers." Read the ensuing steps to get the nitty gritty on how to fully explore the fantasy lore of this cult-flavored flick.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

passion for sci-fi/fantasy
popcorn
crush on Hayden Christensen
Samuel L. appreciation

Step 1

Familiarize yourself with the back story. Jumpers are an ancient race of humans born with a genetic mutation that gives them their special powers. While having the privilege of instantly showing up at any spot on earth at any time may seem like the cat's pajamas, Jumpers face two primary limitations. One is a set of rules governing jumps, such as varying levels of jump fluidity and environmental damage. The other is a ruthless Delphian syndicate called the "Paladins" that is hell-bent on the destruction of the Jumper gene (and all the Jumpers with it). At the time of the film's beginning, the Paladins have nearly succeeded.
Step 2

Check the buzz. The makers of Jumper acquired the rights in late 2005, with the intent to capitalize on the popularity of the 1992 novel of the same name by Stephen Gould. They've since reworked the script several times and announced that the films would become a trilogy. Check the "Development Hell" feature on Mania.com for rumors and gossip related to Jumper and other films in the sci-fi, fantasy and horror genres.
Step 3

Get to know the cast and crew. There's no better way to gauge how much you'll enjoy a movie than by looking at the collective track records of its primary creators. Christensen, the protagonist, has made his name playing Darth Vader-to-be Anakin Skywalker in three Star Wars films. Jackson, of course, has done everything from action to comedy to horror and Tarrantino films, so you know what you're getting with him. Jumper also stars two young up-and-comers in the OC's Rachel Bilson and Jamie Bell of King Kong and Flags of Our Fathers fame. The director, Doug Liman, can claim producer and director credits on the Jason Bourne trilogy as his signature work. And while screenwriter David Goyer has contributed to comic books and comic book films galore, his cohort and fellow writer Jim Uhls is best known for penning the masterful film adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's hit novel Fight Club. That last fact bodes well for this one.
Step 4

Read the reviews (or don't). You probably don't need eHow to tell you this, but if you're the type of lad (or lass) who doesn't like a big surprise, you might want to read some reviews on this one before checking it out. One caveat: Jumper's biggest critics have drawn the always popular conclusion that the movie emphasizes special effects over story.
Step 5

Peruse the books. Stephen Gould's Jumper series has now reached three books (as of 2008) that have received a smattering of positive reviews and fiction awards. Gould has also written "Wildside" and several other successful sci-fi stories. Common themes in his literature, which is geared toward young adults, include traditional heroes, links between worlds, corrupt governments and quirky futuristic technology.
Step 6

Find out more about teleportation. Teleportation is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as "A hypothetical method of transportation in which matter or information is dematerialized, usually instantaneously, at one point and recreated at another." The term is attributed to famous paranormal scribe, Charles Fort, who first used it to explain away a host of psychic phenomena. Despite the hokey origins, would you believe it if someone told you that quantum teleportation is actually possible with atoms and photons? Might want to do some research, buddy. You can start with David Darling's "Teleportation: The Impossible Leap."
Step 7

Check out Jumper paraphernalia. The Jumper story is explored further in a graphic novel published by Oni Press (see resources). Also, you can take on the roles of the film's characters yourself with the video game "Jumper: Griffin's Story," available on all major gaming formats.
Step 8

Try other movies with similar themes. Like Jumper? Why not try movies that explore related themes? Highly recommended are Stargate, the Terminator series, the X-Men series, the Nightwatch trilogy, The Fly, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, the Philadelphia Experiment, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Contact, Donnie Darko and any Star Wars or Star Trek movie you can get your hands on.

Comments

iamageniuster said

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on 10/24/2008 Very interesting stuff here. 5 stars!

SmithM99 said

on 7/28/2008 thanks, fun article

AudreyBrown said

on 3/7/2008 I wanted to like it SO bad, it was really great in the beginning, like a Sci Fi version of BIG. But it fell in on itself and never quite explained the rules of jumping entirely.