Jumper - Thoughts

Released in 2008, Jumper had minimal promo activity, and thus wasn’t widely hyped. Post release, public response was mostly lackluster. Outside of Hayden Christensen’s female fan following, reactions were mostly uninspiring. Having seen the trailer, which had some decent special effects, and explored a new sci-fi concept of instant teleportation, I was moderately enamored. In Jumper, Hayden Christensen plays a boy with a genetic ability to instantly teleport anywhere across the world. Also eminent is a hunt for people of his kind.


The movie is relatively short, weighing in at 88 minutes. The plot and back story are similarly bare and minimalistic. While there is a little more insight into the pursuit for the gifted few, there is no additional background provided to the two factions, and their past. The way the plot was setup, I believe that there was room for additional narrative development, to perhaps have made the movie a little more complex and gripping. That said, the special effects were good, and the sci-fi teleportation piece was original. If you’re looking for a fun, entertaining, extremely light movie, Jumper will certainly not disappoint. Also thrown into the plot mix was his reconnecting with his crush from school, and their romantic development. That added positively to the overall effort.

Performances were good, with Rachel Bilson’s portrayal of Millie being noteworthy. This was one of her first movies I’m seeing and I think her spontaneity and personality came through really well. What was outstanding was that most of her scenes seemed extremely natural and genuine. Hayden Christensen did an adequate job, his portrayal of David Rice being believable while not over the top. The fact that he was portraying a conscientious jumper did seem justified. Samuel L Jackson with his rather intense hair style played bad guy Roland convincingly. Diane Lane’s role was very minimal, but was on the mark; expression and emotion was apt.

The DVD I was watching was a regular Region 1 US DVD. Video was good for most part, and picture was clear. Most scenes has a gold-ish sun-ray sorta glow/tone to it. I’m guessing this was intentionally done during post production. Sound was by means of a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, which served the movie and its effects well. Dialog was clear, and teleportation sequences sounded good with the supporting sound effects.

My Recommendation: Watch It - (A Simple Superficial Sci-Fi Entertainer!)

Crank 2: High Voltage - Thoughts

The first I heard of the Crank series was from a friend in London, who was telling me that if I liked Jason Statham action movies I should check-out Crank sometime. While I made a mental note to, I never really got around to it. During a recent long distance luxury cab ride, we decided to watch a movie while in transit and it so happened that the pick of the lot was Crank 2: High Voltage. In the sequel Statham falls out of a plane, survives, and then proceeds to hunts down gang members who harvested his organs while he was delirious. All of this off course is while he is using a temp artificial heart that needs electric recharging periodically to keep him going.


A frantic 96 minutes later, I had some mixed feelings about Crank 2. First off, its paced in a non-stop action sorta way, with no real break or slowdown. It’s certainly for a mature audience, as there’s plenty of violence, loads of abusive language, and a good measure of nudity. While not obvious, there is a humor element which adds to the mix well, and helps balance things out. Crank 2 succeeds at being entertaining, and turns a deaf year to reality. Though there are references to the first movie, and reappearing characters, entering the Crank franchise directly at part 2, a.k.a. High Voltage is quite fine. If you’re in the mood for almost mindless entertainment, with very little realism Crank 2 is worth the watch, but if you’re looking to be gripped with an intense plot and something that will make you think, rest assured Crank 2 will be disappointing.

Jason Statham plays Chev Chelios, a very charged and aggressive anti-hero style protagonist. He comes across as driven with very little concerns for the world around him. I’m guessing that shoot first, think later was how the character was written out to be, and Statham succeeds at that. Amy Smart plays Eve Lydon, Chev Chelios’s stripper girlfriend. She too comes off as crazy and edgy, and a convincing partner to Chelios. Having only seen her in Road Trip previously, where she plays a very typical teenager, Amy Smart shows good range in the kind of characters she can play. Art Hsu plays one of the nut-job villains Johnny Vang; while not the most intimidating, he does make for a moderately worthy adversary. Besides, he is only 1 of many villains. Efren Ramirez plays Venus, a questionable and somewhat feminine man. Suffering from Tourette’s, he too is extreme in his portrayal. Pretty much all the characters in Crank 2 are over the top and bordering crazy.

I watched Crank 2 on a mini LCD display while travelling in a luxury cab. Thus the test medium wasn’t great, but that said picture quality seemed pretty decent. The DVD was a copy made from an original Asian Multi Region DVD. There was no pixilation or obvious deterioration in video. As expected with Multi Region DVD’s, there was very minimal loss in color vibrancy. The sound system in use was a standard stereo speaker setup. The audio experience was excessively limited, and the soundtrack could not be analyzed much. For most part dialogue was clear, and the action sequences were complemented with good supporting sound effects.

My Recommendation: Dicey (You may enjoy it, or be left with the feeling of wanting to throw your television out the window)