Jumper

So Hayden and Samuel team up again for a Sci-fi Flick, minus good old George or course. This time however they get the mastermind behind the Bourne series, and one would think this would better the odds of it being good. One would think...

The movie however is a wash. An exciting premise, some interesting action, and meandering story. I mean with the idea of a 'war' that has been going on for centuries between people that can jump to any location they have seen(or been.. still wasn't that clear) at will and the Paladins that systematically hunt theses abominations down to kill them, one would think you could muster-up a rip roaring action packed epic... One would think.

Hayden is as wooden as ever in a role that might of benefited from some actual emotion, but to his credit the script doesn't help. We know this man can act he did it in Shattered Glass and Life as a House, but some where Anakin took him to the career dark side, and he is following the path blazed by his movie son Mark Hamell into obscurity.

The movie started slow.. which is not necessarily bad if it's beginning has purpose. Instead it was like a superhero origin tale with all the fun and excitement or consequences for his actions taken out. Seriously I had a hard time get over the fact that this kid falls through the ice with a dozen or so witnesses and is not seen again, and there is no funeral no indication that people think he died. And then when he does show up like 10 years later everyone is like... ohh Hey old bud long time no see. I mean the female lead should be totally freaked out if not scared for life.. but ohh well it is a movie, let me extend my suspension of disbelief a bit further.

From their we are introduced to people from an incredibly old organization that hunts jumpers with religious zeal. They seem at all places at all times with more funding then most governments, but some how have remained hidden. They pose as NSA FEMA and just about every other government initial that there is.

The movie then just goes bad. Some where the story was lost and about half way through you sense the scriptwriters had some real writers block. I am sure this script probably has at least a half dozen names to its credit. Which makes sense. Too many cooks in the kitchen seem to of turned a simple omelet into a really bad scrambled egg.

Pass on this one. Unless you are just looking for some interesting visuals and some disjointed special effects.

The Spiderwick Chronicles

Ahh yes just what we need another children's fantasy series turned into a budding movie franchise. Going into this one I didn't know what to expect. The trailers looked like it was interesting, the special effects look good, and the down to earth characters seemed a change of pace.

My one big draw back was the movie's running time. At just under and hour and half, it was a hard sell. My hard earned 16 dollar tickets and 15 dollar snacks(hey I am buying for two now) seem to be worth at least another half hour's worth of time. But alas I bit the bullet and went.

And boy was I surprised. After all Narnia was pretty disappointing, and the Golden Compass was out right bad. It was nice to see a children's fantasy that didn't have boy with a lightning bolt shaped scare actually deliver a good movie.

The premise goes like this. After a separation a mother moves to an old family home with her twin sons and fencing loving daughter to start over. However the old home has an old past, complete with an insane aunt and her vanishing father, who saw fantastical creatures. As the name suggest the Father wrote a book of his findings, which of course is the main catalyst of this tale.

The fantastical journey takes center stage here, as these kids, still grounded in reality, start to learn about the magical things around them. Things go quite fast in this flick, mainly to keep the target audiences attention,(10-15 year olds) and the side stories don't get their fair due. But all and all it was a fun ride, with great visuals, and a story that didn't seem too long or even too short.

I think what separates this movie from the Narnias' and Golden Compass', is its grounded-ness to the real world. Real world materials were used to fight mythical beings, and real world problems were thrown into the mix. You didn't have to wrap your mind around a fictional setting with fictional laws.

I would recommend this movie, for a light hearted viewing affair. You don't have to think much, you will enjoy your time, all you need to to is relax use this movie as a chance to unwind.