Saw the movie Jumper last night, and was one of the throng who made it #1 in the weekend box office results. All in all, it wasn’t the worst movie I’d seen recently (I gave up watching Ocean’s 13 DVD about 2/3 of way through. Ridiculous movie.

But Jumper was far from the best I’d seen recently. In fact, it didn’t come close to matching up to the excellent pair of books written by Steven Gould it’s “based” on, Jumper and Reflex, both of which are simply really, really good books, and recommended to me, by the way by new Dad Cory Doctrow. But I’m not all that disappointed in the movie either, since it should prove to be a great earner for Gould, provided his agent got a decent rights deal for the movie and the television spinoff the movie sets up.

Oh yes, no doubt about that. The Producers have set up a Highlander, Buffy style spinoff that may well be successful. The Highlander comparison was one I sensed just from the trailer, and confirmed in the mostly empty, with scattered 24 year old men sitting here and there, theatre. Here it is:

Highlander: The Series (of which I’m a fan, by the way): Immortals, secretly among us and pursued by an equally secret sect of “Watchers,” who track and in some rogue cases, kill the Immortals. The Immortals have a weakness. Being beheaded ends their lives, permanent-like. The main character, Duncan MacLeod, has as a close friend, Watcher Joe Dawson, who secretly helps MacLeod, at risk to himself and his standing in the Watchers. Action ensues. And a successful catalog as well.

Jumper: The Series (of which I may well become a fan): Jumpers, secretly among us and pursued by an equally secret sect of “Palladins,” who track and in some rogue cases DON’T kill the Jumpers. The Jumpers have a weakness. Being shocked with electricity disables their ability to jump. The main character, David Rice, discovers his mother is a Palladin, who secretly helps David, at risk to herself and her standing in the Palladins. Action ensues. And (probably) a successful catalog as well.

I think the people behind Highlander: The Series have made a lot of money, and I’m glad, because for the most part, it was a very good show with a lot of depth. It extended the film nicely, with the exception of the most recent movie, which is apparently without merit.

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Television, Movies, Highland, Jumper