Jump Over to the New 'Jumper' Website
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Site Announcements, 20th Century Fox, Movie Marketing, Images
Now that The Bourne Ultimatum has broken box office records, I have to say again that I like Doug Liman's Bourne Identity -- the first of the trilogy -- best. Still, I don't mind that he left the franchise in the hands of Paul Greengrass, because it allowed him to make the brilliant Mr. & Mrs. Smith and the upcoming Jumper, which I'm really looking forward to. I've loved everything directed by Liman since Go (yeah, Swingers was fine but nothing great), and I hope Jumper continues the streak. Based on a series of young adult novels by Steven Gould, is a sci-fi adventure thriller about a teenage jumper -- or someone with the power to teleport -- in search of his mother's killer while also being tracked by the NSA. It has a script from David S. Goyer (Batman Begins), Simon Kinberg (Mr. & Mrs. Smith) and Jim Uhls (Fight Club), and a great cast that includes Samuel L. Jackson, Diane Lane, Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot) , Rachel Bilson (The O.C.), Tom Hulce (Amadeus), Michael Rooker (Slither) and Hayden 'Anakin Skywalker' Christensen. The movie now also has a website.
The thing I love best about the Jumper site is that it's easy to navigate. It's one of these websites that pans through a location (here someone's room/office) where certain objects can be clicked on to reveal things like a synopsis, a cast, etc. But for those of us who are impatient or have slow computers, or just simply aren't good at finding every last hidden link, there's a menu at the top of the screen that gives us pretty much the same stuff the link-objects do. Well, it doesn't include the site's clock links, which go to a site that gives us the exact time in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, St. Petersburg (Florida), Tokyo and ... Tokyo (because the New York one also accidentally links there, too). I'm surprised that Rome isn't one of those provided, since the city features prominently in the movie. The in-site links include a back story about jumpers and Paladins, who hunt and kill jumpers. There's also a photo gallery, a wallpaper download and a character guide. One of the link-objects, a group of video cassettes, don't really give us anything special, so I'm guess that's where the trailer will appear once it is available. I guess the site isn't too amazing, but it's given me some more background, and I'm now even more interested in seeing the movie. Jumper hits theaters on February 18, 2008.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-07-2007 @ 1:48PM
L.G. said...
I can sorta understand where you're coming from saying you like Liman's "Identity" the best out of the trilogy (Although, no matter how you slice it. Paul Greengrass is definitely the prime architect of that series.) but I have to assume you're dripping with sarcasm when you claim "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" is brilliant.
I'll admit that movie was reasonably entertaining when I saw it the first time in theaters but any repeat viewings lead to the sudden revelation that that film is a smug, witless, tedious, and annoying mess that thinks it can coast comfortably on the charisma and presence of its two leads, who, in my opinion, have a shocking lack of chemistry on-screen inversely proportionate to the tremendous amount they seem to share in real-life. In case that wasn't bad enough,
It's fairly stylish and more than competently directed and all but the screenplay is downright terrible. All that "witty repartee" between the Smiths just smacks of self-referential, glad-handing Hollywood wannabe-hip B.S.
I could practically hear Simon Kinberg patting himself on the back for being oh-so-clever as he counts up all the cash he was given for his hackneyed screenplay.
That being said, I love the premise of this "Jumper" movie, and involvement of the aforementioned writer of such gems as "xXx: State Of The Union" and "X-Men: The Last Stand", I'm still looking forward to it. It's got Liman at the helm and a great cast to back up the high-concept pitch.
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8-07-2007 @ 2:12PM
CLS said...
I'm with LG. Were you being sarcastic when you said you liked Mr. and Mrs. Smith? I saw it on an airplane, and even with those incredibly low standards, decided that I would rather listen to the snoring in 12F and the child screaming in 13G than spend another wasted moment of my life watching that piece of Hollywood poo.
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8-07-2007 @ 2:23PM
Christopher Campbell said...
No sarcasm. I really think it's a brilliant action-comedy. It works as a smart satire of modern matrimony, its dialogue is some of the best repartee since the '30s and as you said, it is entertaining. I'm not sure what more you could want.
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8-07-2007 @ 4:19PM
Jen said...
Um, sorry: "Swingers" fine; nothing great? We must discuss.
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8-09-2007 @ 10:50AM
LRS62 said...
Based on the fact that you think that "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" has some of the best repartee since the 30's and "Swingers" is "fine", I think I can pretty much skip any critical post you ever make without losing sleep.
Liman is a C grade director with a knack for overbaked dialog, a weak eye for composition, and seeming talented at picking the wrong actors for roles. Greengrass handed him his ass on the Bourne series- and considering that "Identity" is probably the best film he's ever made, that's saying volumes.
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