As a adolescent, David Rice (Max Thieriot) lived with his father William (Michael Rooker). Due to her status as a Paladin, David's mother Mary (Diane Lane) left him because she knew he was a Jumper.
When David falls through the ice covering on a river, he discovers that he is a Jumper. Using this ability he leaves his childhood home behind. He decides to set himself up in New York City, using money he has stolen from the local bank. Over the course of the next eight years, David (now played by Hayden Christensen) lives life to excess, traveling all across the world and living a consequence-free life.
This all changes when he meets, Roland Cox (Samuel L. Jackson), (a jumper hating Paladin) who has been tracking him for several years after investigating the mysterious bank robbery David had accomplished. Roland uses a variety of advanced technologies to inhibit David’s ability to Jump while trying to kill him, but David manages to escape. After David tracks down Millie (Rachel Bilson), his childhood friend, he encounters Mark (Teddy Dunn),who attended David and Millie's school. The two get into a fight after Mark insults Millie. During the fight, David Jumps with Mark into the bank vault from his robbery 8 years before, and leaves Mark inside. After this, David Jumps back to Millie, and uses his considerable wealth to fly her to Rome for a holiday. After interrogating Mark in jail, Roland sets out to find David.
While the two are exploring the Roman Colosseum, David meets a young Jumper named Griffin (Jamie Bell) (who had been tracking David since he noticed him jump at the bar in London). After being attacked by Paladins, they Jump to his hideout (Griffin since it is one of his Jump Sites, David by entering Griffin's Jump Scar). Once there, David learns about a centuries-old war between Jumpers and Paladins, and about how Griffin is trying to track down and kill as many of the Paladins as he can.
Fearing for Millie’s safety, David returns to Rome to see her safely on a homebound plane, but is arrested by the police for trespassing. While in custody he is visited by his mother, Mary, and warned that the Paladins are on their way. After receiving a warning to run, David puts Millie on a plane to Detroit, and then Jumps to his father’s house to check on him. Unfortunately, William is dead, killed by Roland for refusing to sell out his son.
While working with Griffin, David Jumps to Millie's home in order to take her to safety. After David arrives at Griffin's hideout, Griffin panics, telling David that the Paladins have technology that allows them to travel through the scars left after a jump. Roland arrives minutes later with a team of Paladins and attacks the group. Griffin kills the team with a flamethrower and fights against Roland one-on-one; Roland eventually retreats back through the jump scar into Millie's home, taking Millie with him.
Griffin prepares a bomb to use against Roland, but David won’t let him as this would kill Millie as well. David then steals the detonator and the two Jump across the world, through each other’s Jump Scars; until David manages to trap Griffin in a collapsed electrical tower which prevents him from Jumping. He then Jumps to Millie’s apartment, only to be caught by Roland and the Paladins. With great effort David manages to Jump a large portion of Millie’s apartment into a lake, shorting out the Paladins’ equipment. From there, he jumps a portion of the apartment, Millie, Roland, and himself into a library. David then jumps Roland into a cave in the Grand Canyon. Sparing Roland's life, David states that not all Jumpers end up being evil...
Some time later, David pays a visit to his mother, Mary, in the process learning that he has a sister. When he confronts her about her being a Paladin, she tells him that she loves him and therefore will give him a head start. The film ends with David and Millie jumping away to an unknown warm location. |