courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox In “Jumper,” a genetic anomaly allows Hayden Christensen to teleport himself anywhere, including Big Ben in London. The film opened in theaters last Friday.

With superhero origin stories such as "Batman Begins" or "Spider-Man" becoming more and more popular in cinema, "Jumper" has made its way to the theater in hopes that it will be a hit like so many others before it.

Like the Harry Potter franchise and "The Spiderwick Chronicles," this is another movie adapted from a book made for a younger audience, though "Jumper" is a mediocre movie and only somewhat enjoyable.

"Jumper" is about a man named David Rice (Hayden Christensen), who realizes he has the capability to teleport at the age of fifteen when he uses his power to avoid drowning.

He is able to teleport, or "jump," anywhere he desires. He can easily surf in Fiji, pick up girls in London, and eat lunch on top of the Sphinx all on the same day. However, like in most movies involving super-powers, the powers come with a price.

There is a war going on between the Jumpers, those with the teleporting ability, and an organization called the Paladins, lead by Roland Cox (Samuel L. Jackson). The Paladins kill the Jumpers, justifying their actions by claiming that Jumpers should not possess their ability, and that only God should be able to "be everywhere at once."

Little background and explanation is given on the history of the war between Paladins and Jumpers. David is not even aware of any of this until halfway through the film, eight years after he discovers his gift when he is 23, and a Paladin comes after him.

He soon meets Griffin (Jamie Bell), another Jumper who has been fighting Paladins for years, who informs David about the war and reluctantly pairs up with him to help protect David's romantic interest, Millie (Rachel Bilson).

Any quality in the movie does not lie in the capabilities of its actors.

Bilson's character's is far from persuasive. Her only purpose in the film is to be the girl needing protection, who, without a thought, travels to Rome with a boy she thought dead for eight years. Also, there is simply no chemistry between her and Christensen.

Christensen has improved from his Star Wars days, but his performance does not allow the audience to sympathize with the character. He portrays the wounded, misunderstood, determined hero ineffectively. Though he is not bad, he is not outstanding.

Bell, winner of the Best Actor Award at the 2000 British Academy Awards (BAFTA), is terrific as the cool Paladin-hunting Jumper who lives alone in ambiguity in the middle of a desert. He brings a lot of energy to the film and is a joy to watch in each scene he steals from the other actors.

Samuel L. Jackson sports a white wig as the lead Paladin, doing a good job portraying the Jumpers' enemy. Though it is not the fault of the actor, it would have been better if the script had allowed the character to be more than two-dimensional.

Most all the characters in "Jumper" are two-dimensional, though one interesting aspect is that there is no clear line of who is right or wrong, good guys or bad guys.

In most super-hero movies, the super-heroes save the world. However, David Rice only uses his powers for himself, as explicitly portrayed in the scene where he watches the news to see people drowning in a flood. Audiences almost expect him to go and save the day, but no, he gets up and walks away without emotion.

The whole aspect of Jumping is interesting to watch and is nicely done on screen. The cinematography is strong and makes it very believable. And, with each "jump" audience members are able to enjoy different sites of the world as well. In one action sequence the characters teleport from deserts to what looks like Antarctica to Chechnya and many more locales. The movie allows viewers to see many countries, with characters driving down the streets in Tokyo to walking through the restricted areas in the Roman Coliseum.

Too much effort is placed on the special effects along with the action sequences and not enough on performance and dialogue. Audiences will not be drawn in enough to care about subplots about David's romance or his relationship with his mother. The lack of background inhibits enjoyment.

Another downside to "Jumper" is that it is so fast-paced in its attempts to entertain that it misses out on some explanations. For example, why do some Jumps cause things to shake like an earthquake and other Jumps are nice and smooth? Also, the history behind the Jumpers and the Paladins are barely explained and one can't help but wonder, "Where are the other Jumpers?" It also seems strange that many Jumps occur in public places but the people barely seem to notice.

In the end, "Jumper" is a movie with great potential that does not live up to what it could have been.

Plot...................C+
Acting................C
Cinematography.....A-
Overall................C+