A sci-fi tale about people who can teleport anywhere on a moment's notice, Jumper nails the fact that if most individuals had this power, they'd probably use it for such superficial reasons as getting revenge on bullies and robbing banks blind. Why fight crime when swiping some cash for yourself undetected is a breeze? Unfortunately, Jumper is comprised of only a few moments like this, not quite enough to make the film anything except a diverting but ultimately confounding feature.

As a teenager, David Rice (Hayden Christensen) discovered he had an unusual gift. By merely picturing a location in his mind, he found himself able to teleport (or "jump") there in an instant. Many years and many pilfered banks later, David leads a pretty cushy life of jet-setting across the globe whenever he pleases. But his world becomes a lot less safe once a secret society, led by the silver-haired Roland (Samuel L. Jackson), catches up to him. Roland belongs to an organization hell-bent on putting an end to all jumpers the world over. Narrowly escaping imminent doom, David sets about fighting back against those determined to hunt him down, teaming up with a fellow jumper (Jamie Bell) to combat them in order to save their own skins as well as David's childhood sweetie (Rachel Bilson).

Even if a movie focuses on people who go all over the map in an instant, it doesn't necessarity give the plot permission to do the same. Alas, such is the case with Jumper, which changes tones and scenes so fast, you're likely to be diagnosed with whiplash by the time the credits roll. This is the type of movie with only about a half-hour's worth of plot, so the remaining hour gets filled with a whole lot of noise and a ton of special effects. All well and good, though, for as brutal on the eyes as it sounds, the constant jumping scenes are actually pretty cool. Surprisingly, the teleporting  never gets tiring, especially in action sequences when events like a double-decker bus hurtling through a desert takes place. Still, I wish Jumper had been a little more adept at handling these scenes. On their own, they're nice and entertaining, but the way the film jostles you around from tone to tone and subplot to subplot, you get the feeling it's not so much one movie as more like three or four of them scrambling for your attention all at once. Even the opening credits seem unusually rushed, as if the movie were in a hurry to get itself over and done with.

Jumper also suffers from what I call a Golden Compass Syndrome. So many subplots and characters are introduced, only to be left hanging in the breeze, so you can obviously tell the filmmakers are banking on this to be the start of a big new franchise. Director Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity) does a good job keeping viewers involved for the 90 minutes running time, but I doubt many viewers will be invested enough in the characters to wait on pins and needles over what happens to them in a sequel. As per usual, Christensen sleepwalks his way through another part, and Jackson, sporting one of the most random hairstyles in recent memory, comes across as a pretty ho-hum bad guy. On the flipside, the beautiful Bilson survives the flick by laying low as a damsel in distress, and Bell's character, a jumper with a few less scruples than David, ends up being much more intriguing than Christensen's hero.

When it comes to putting on a show more for the eyes than for the brain, Jumper certainly gets the job done. There's enough going on, and the film never lags, although its fast-paced nature may make you want to slap it a few times so it'll just settle down.

MY RATING: ** 1/2 (out of ****)

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