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Doug Liman's film is not, sadly, a cinematic exploration of chunky knitwear. Maybe he'll get Arran to that one eventually. Instead, Jumper is a light sci-fi romp based on a book by Steven Gould, which itself owes a debt to Alfred Bester's classic The Stars My Destination. Hayden Christensen, still wearing his bruisy pout from Revenge Of The Sith, is David Rice, an ordinary kid with an extraordinary power: he can teleport anywhere in the world, instantly.

Refeshingly, David doesn't use his power to thwart super-villains and save kittens from trees. The first thing he does is rob a bank, then he spends his time surfing in Maui and sunbathing on the head of the Sphinx. Unfortunately for him, a shadowy organisation known as the Paladins is dedicated to hunting down and killing "jumpers" like David. Their boss (Samuel Jackson in a ludicrous snowy crewcut) likes to tether his prey with electric cables before gutting them with a machete. His reason for this antisocial behaviour isn't clear; perhaps he's in the pay of the airline companies.

"YOU LEAVE DEFLATED RATHER THAN THRILLED"

Anyway, David teams up with another renegade jumper, endearingly played by Jamie Bell, to fight the nasty Paladins and save his high school sweetheart (Rachel Billson) from their nefarious clutches. It's a jolly little film, enlivened by a couple of spectacular action sequences and some nice location work. The problem, ironically enough, is that Jumper doesn't actually go anywhere. Important plot points are left unexplored, and there's no killer climax, so you leave the cinema deflated rather than thrilled. Presumably they're saving the best bits for a sequel. They could call it Cardigan.

Jumper is out in the UK on 14th February 2008.