Head to Head – Jumper

Doug Liman’s Jumper is many things to many people. A fun popcorn flick. An actively annoying mess. A document of a platinum blonde Samuel L. Jackson. In this week’s instalment of Head to Head, Chris Richardson of The Movie Hub and Quickflix critic Simon Miraudo debate the merits of this divisive film.

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Chris Richardson – 4/5

We all know that Jumper is far from a perfect film. I’m the first to admit that there are some highly confusing and unnecessary elements, but this is not a film you watch when you want an in-depth critique of society, but rather, when you want to see some cool action scenes and an even cooler concept. That’s exactly what Jumper offers, a highly enticing premise with some cool action scenes and relatively solid acting, especially from the fantastically self righteous Samuel L. Jackson. It seems that these days a lot of people have forgotten films don’t need to contain hard hitting messages; sometimes they can just be fun. I loved Jumper for what it was, not what people expect from a film.

Simon Miraudo – 1/5

Chris, I most certainly agree with you. Not all films need to offer “an in-depth critique of society”. There is plenty of merit in a film that embraces wild action sequences. Sadly, Jumper does not offer “wild action sequences” as much as it offers scenes in which Hayden Christensen “jumps” from his couch to his fridge. A horrendous script directed lazily and performed with almost complete disinterest from the cast. This movie features infuriating moment after infuriating moment. Our smug hero boasts about spending his day on top of the pyramids, and then later jumps to the face of Big Ben, just to hang out. Why is that appealing? I’ve previously documented my hatred for Jumper, so allow me to simply end with this telling quote from the film: “I just came through your jump scar!”

Discuss: Where do you stand? Pick a side. There can only be one winner!