“Jumper” is a science-fiction movie with an interesting core concept. Unfortunately, it really does not do all that much with it and it ends up feeling like little more than an excuse to show off some impressive locations around the world.

David Rice (Hayden Christensen “Shattered Glass”, “Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones”) is a young man with the ability to teleport across the world at any time. He is living the good life but finds himself targeted by a mysterious ancient order out to destroy him and those like him. As he becomes involved in the conflict, he tries to keep his dream girl (Rachel Bilson) safe.

Hayden Christensen really irritated me with his performance in the “Star Wars” prequels and he is not much better here. His whiny portrayal of the protagonist really does not help this movie at all. Samuel L. Jackson (“Pulp Fiction”, “Jurassic Park”) is pretty good as the villain. Jamie Bell (“King Kong”) is awful as Griffin, another ‘jumper’ like David. The interactions between David and Griffin are cringeworthy. Rachel Bilson is tolerable as Millie. I did not care for the performance from Michael Rooker (“Slither”). I really wish we got to see more of Diane Lane (“Judge Dredd”) in this movie as David’s estranged mother.

“Jumper” had the potential to be an exciting sci-fi/action flick but it just gets worse the longer it goes on. Some of the action scenes are creative and I liked the variety of the locations as we get to see predictable places such as London, Rome and New York as well as some surprising ones including Chechnya. The special effects here are also quite good but there is nothing visually amazing in here. In conclusion, while some of the ideas and action sequences are good, the poor performance and questionable script prevent “Jumper” from succeeding.