Jumper is about the wrong Jumper. David Rice, the story's main character, is played by Max Thieriot as a young teen who discovers he has a superhuman power -- he can teleport. Taking advantage of this, he flees his crummy life in Ann Arbor and travels the world. Eight years later, he's played by Hayden Christensen, and around this time not only does he feel the need to search for an old classmate, Millie (Rachel Bilson), whom he's carried a torch for, he also discovers there's a group of people out there, the "Paladins," lead by the intimidating Roland (Samuel L. Jackson), who are hellbent on killing "Jumpers" like him.

This means, of course, he's not the only one, which we discover when he runs into a potential ally and fellow Jumper named Griffin, played by Jamie Bell. Griffin, who warns David about the murderous group hunting them, provides a stark contrast to our protagonist. David's shown to be a loner who's been using his powers for hedonism, getting tired of it and seeking meaning by stalking/courting Millie. Upon learning that possessing such powers means facing external, life-threatening consequences, he simply reacts by coming up with the most direct possible resolution. The evil man is going to hurt his loved one? Let's just hunt him down and dispose of him! Never mind that Griffin, who's obviously been fighting this battle for years, warns him about going one-on-one with Roland  being an unwise course of action.

The movie should've been about Griffin. Bell's screen presence appears so much startlingly brighter than Christensen's that when he first appears, you're jolted by the magnetism he exerts. His character is smart and resourceful -- he plans his attacks against his enemies, instead of rushing headlong into battle. He knows having a loved one around will just endanger their lives; that, by having them, they are already collateral damage. He knows this war has been going on for hundreds of years, and he's good at fighting it. He's easily two to three times more interesting than the stubborn, emotional David, so why are we following David?

Bilson also doesn't add much to the central couple, since her character isn't given much more dimension than David's. She's rather blank and can only react to what David is doing. When he first reappears to her, she makes herself available to him (perhaps a little too readily). Then, rather irritatingly, David tries hard not to let her know about his super power, and as a result she starts to suspect something is up. Eventually, she finds him creepy, then she becomes imperiled when the Paladins arrive. Christensen and Bilson's pairing is vapid, and again I wondered why we were supposed to root for this uninteresting couple instead of following the larger battle Griffin is waging.

To make things worse, the movie has no third act. When the climax occurs, you won't realize it's the climax. Then an epilogue occurs, and you'll think it's  setting up for the big finale, when suddenly the credits appear. Maybe the movie could've been saved. The effects had been pretty decent so far, and director Doug Liman had set up some pretty good action sequences. But then again, maybe it really had nowhere to go -- a good premise, with lots of imagination potential, wasted. After all, Bell was not the main character; instead, we were supposed to cheer for this other guy, who's kind of a jerk in the end, really, to save a girl he essentially has a paper thin relationship with.

Who knows? Maybe the goal of Jumper involved making you dislike its protagonist, a guy who thinks he's a good egg but is really just a rulebreaker and can justify it as long as he's able to get away with it. If so, then congratulations would be in order.

(Released by Twentieth Century Fox and rated "PG-13" for sequences of intense action violence, some language and brief sexuality.)

Review also posted at www.windowtothemovies.com.