Jumper ***

I have been a fan of teleportation since reading Alfred Bester's classic "The Stars My Destination" many years ago. In Bester's book it was called "jaunting," as it was in the later British TV series "Tomorrow People." After all, quantum mechanics has been forced to accept the concept of subatomic particles going from one place to another without occupying any of the space in between, so why not get all of them synchronized to jaunt at tthe same time?

But the ease of learning to jump your body to a new place just by thinking about it in those works is different. In Bester's world it is a skill that can be learned. Following scientific study of a first adept, the secrets were learned, and taught, and jaunting pads were set up all over. For "Tomorrow's People," teleportation is one of several new skills that are awakened in highly-evolved individuals. In "Jumper," the skill is similarly innate in certain people, but who, far from being higher new beings, are freaks who seem to have appeared randomly for millennia, long enough to have attracted well-organized mortal enemies.

Fifteen year old David Rice (Hayden Christensen) discovers his talent when he falls through the ice on a river and almost drowns, then suddenly finds himself soaking wet in the library. Picked on by a bully at school, abandoned by his mother at an early age, and left with an abusive father, David quickly decides to use his new skill to escape his life and move to New York, where it's easy to pick up spending money if you can teleport into a bank vault.

Eight years later, David's adrenaline- and testosterone-fueled idyll is rudely interrupted by the appearance of murderous foes, led by black, white-haired Roland (a suitably menacing Samuel L. Jackson), who consider jumpers to be abominations who must be eliminated. This sets up the conflict of the movie, where the photogenic but wooden Christensen (why was he chosen to play Anakin Skywalker, anyway?) must elude, fight, and try to out-wit experienced and relentless foes. David is aided by another jumper, the loner Griffin, excellently played by the now grown-up Billy Elliot, Jamie Bell. And David does reconnect with his high-school crush Millie (the O.C.'s Rachel Bilson), just in time to put her in harm's way.

But the real star of the movie is the action sequences. The editing and special effects are spectacular. From the top of Khufu's pyramid, to downtown Tokyo, to a lush and accessible Rome, to Big Ben, the locations are convincing. The editing is often frenetic but never confused. For a fun ride, I haven't seen anything as good since "Transformers." And you would expect no less from Doug Liman, who also directed "The Bourne Ultimatum" and "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," and was executive producer of the other two "Bourne's." Clearly Liman is hoping for another franchise, as he leaves key characters, including a mysterious Diane Lane as David's mother, available for a sequel. While Christensen is no Matt Damon, on the whole you could do a lot worse for a popcorn thrill ride. Just don't expect interesting dialog, character development, or a robust back story. All that will have to wait for Jumper II.

Rated PG-13. 90 minutes. Directed by Doug Liman. Written by David S. Goyer, Jim Uhls, and Simon Kinberg, from the novel by Stephen Gould. Produced by Lucas Foster, Stacy Maes, Jay Sanders, and Simon Kinberg. Distributed by Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation. Principal actors: Hayden Christensen, Samuel L. Jackson, Diane Lane, Jamie Bell, Rachel Bilson.