Jumper
Metascore
35 out of 100

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 36 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 36
  3. Negative: 14 out of 36
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  1. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Phillips
    38
    Jumper, the film, goes everywhere and nowhere.
  2. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    38
    Deep into Hollywood's Dumb Season comes one of its dumbest offerings.
  3. Premiere
    Reviewed by: Glenn Kenny
    38
    These site-shifting extravaganzas sometimes reach an exhilarating level of near-abstraction. So it's too bad that just about everything surrounding the action scenes of the picture is such unmitigated cr--.
  4. Charlotte Observer
    Reviewed by: Lawrence Toppman
    38
    Director Doug Liman and a trio of writers eventually forget the rules they set up and hurl combatants to places they could never have seen or even known about: Who'd willingly project himself into the middle of a Chechnyan war zone?
  5. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    30
    Jumper is so in sync with the language of modern action movies that it’s possible to look past its soullessness and go with the quantum flow.
  6. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Manohla Dargis
    30
    A barely coherent genre mishmash.
  7. Slate
    Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    30
    Jumper not only makes the rules up as it goes along; it neglects to tell us what those rules are, which is both unfair and unfun.
  8. Time
    Reviewed by: Richard Corliss
    30
    Jumper is so lame -- undernourished in its characterizations, stillborn in its action scenes -- that it inevitably leads the idled mind to wondering how this movie got past the pitch stage.
  9. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: Anthony Lane
    30
    The result is more or less a remake of the great scene in “Sherlock Jr.,” where a dozing Buster Keaton dreams himself through a shuffled sequence of backgrounds. Jumper is ten times as brutal, maybe a thousand times more costly, and eighty-four years late, but it’s a start.
  10. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    30
    Like so many other CGI behemoths, this dull action fantasy ultimately squashes rather than inspires one's sense of wonder.
  11. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    25
    Talk about disappointing. Director Doug Liman exuded style and cool in "Swingers," "Go" and "The Bourne Identity." He lost his way in the star bloat of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," and now his mojo is buried in this amped-up sci-fi chase flick.
  12. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    25
    The best stuff in Jumper comes early, while the movie is still busy explaining its scenario. It's only when all the pieces are in place and the story actually kicks in that things start to fall apart, and quickly.
  13. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    25
    A totally ridiculous and incoherent sci-fi adventure.
  14. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    0
    Jumper, based on the novel by Steven Gould, re-defines -- downward -- the notion of dreadful. It does so by dispensing with everything a movie needs for a shot at being merely awful. Dramatic development? None. Entertaining dialogue? Ditto. Internal logic? Puhleez. Intriguing characters? No characters, thus no intrigue. Interesting performances? Essentially none, though with an asterisk.

User Reviews

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User Score
5.2 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 210 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 44 out of 92
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 92
  3. Negative: 36 out of 92
  1. Tss5078
    10
    Jumper is the first film from a trilogy of books by Steven Gould, and while I loved this film, most critics panned it. The story centers around a young Davey (Hayden Christensen), who during a life-threatening event, come to realize he has the power to teleport wherever he wants. Unbeknownst to Davey, he is a member of a group of genetically superior humans known as Jumpers, who are currently at war with a religious organization, that believes their power is evil. What starts out as a simple kid having fun and trying to impress, becomes a fight for survival in this amazing action thriller. You can always tell when a story is adapted from a book, rather than an original screenplay, because the story tends to be more thought out. Not to say screenplays are bad, but when a story isn't made simply to be a movie, it tends to be much more focused on the story, where as screenplays have to worry about the story as well as the aesthetics. Nevertheless, Jumper isn't just another shoot 'em story, it's the perfect mix of action and drama with some outstanding performances. I love Hayden Christensen, who I think is made for roles like this, he has this cool demeanor to him, that's more clever than arrogant. Jamie Bell is also terrific as Griffin, a fellow jumper Davey meets along the way, and he provides some much needed comic relief. ...and then there's Samuel L. Jackson. What is there to say about Jackson that hasn't already been said? The man is a legend. This film is interesting, unique, fast-paced, and even funny. I loved every minute of Jumper and if Sci-Fi is your thing, you will too!… Full Review »
  2. Compi24
    2
    Poor acting and a lackluster story completely submerge the film's somewhat intriguing premise in a mire of forgettability .
  3. cameronmorewood
    5
    Everyone in the movie seems so miserable. How can anyone expect US to be happy with it?
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