When the trailer for Jumper first rolled around, no one was more excited about the movie than I was. Its leading man, Hayden Christensen, may be a bit of a pretty boy, but his work in films like Shattered Glass and Factory Girl should put all the cynics to rest.

Then, I noticed that Jamie Bell – better known to audiences as Billy Elliot – was also one of the stars of the movie. Rachel Bilson was pretty charming in The Last Kiss, so it was a pleasant surprise to see her cast as Christensen’s love interest. To top it off, Christensen would be reuniting with his Star Wars co-star Samuel L. Jackson in this sci-fi action flick.

It almost seemed to good to be true... And it is. Jumper is a big disappointment.

The movie is based on a popular series of books by Steven Gould. Yet, director Doug Liman (Mr. and Mrs. Smith) seems to have lost his way with this project. It plods along in some places, while completely zooming through other areas – you know, like character development.

Bilson’s Millie is the typical one-dimensional girlfriend. Jackson as the bad guy, Roland, is an annoying caricature of cinematic villains.

As a final blow, the romance between Christensen and Bilson is better left on the cutting room floor. There is absolutely no onscreen spark between them. What saves Jumper is Bell’s energetic performance and the fun of watching Christensen’s David Rice “jump” in and out of places that most of us can only dream of visiting.

Grade: C

Jumper is currently in theaters.