2271: One Small Jump for Man

JUMPER Review

US/Color/123min

By. Kevin Lazarus
When Global/Nexus announced last year that it was embarking on yet another biopic of famed astro-pioneer Nick Croshaw, it seemed preposterous. Everybody and their mother knows his story; from his relentless study of the space anomaly that seemed to swallow ships whole to finally becoming the first man to discover and successfully navigate through a jump-point. We’ve all been here before. Seen it done on Vid, in song, I’m sure someone’s painted it, but here’s the thing… this one’s really good.

Starting with a script from newcomer Thomas Goss, Prods were able to attract A-list talent like Michael Forbe (Croshaw) and Lima Hannigan (Baxter) and director Ariel Kalil (Requiem’s Run). Text and Vis has a vérité feel that doesn’t patronize. It adds a vitality and urgency to what had always been the stumbling block for earlier attempts at the same story; the early days. This period of Croshaw’s life was effectively trial and error, attempting to understand what caused and how to consistently trigger the anomaly to open is pretty dry stuff, essentially boiling down to arguments about astrophysics and folds in time/space. Somehow the Makers tone it down just enough to make it accessible and get you emotionally involved but without losing the intellectually challenging elements of the discourse.

Once the film moves into Croshaw’s attempt to cross the Fold for the first time, it shifts into a more conventional adventure story but since it had done such a wonderful job setting up everything that’s at stake, you’re ready for something a little more fast-paced, which brings us to probably the stand-out set-piece in the entire Vid. Everyone knows the dangers of jump-point navigation, it’s like piloting through an asteroid field with afterburners on. That’s what we’re told. Now we can experience what it must feel like; the blinding speeds, the abject terror, but also that rush, that insane high of skating to the edge and coming out the other side. It makes it all the more insane and incredible that this actually happens.

The Vis once Croshaw comes out the other side of the jump-point are impeccably done, regressing what we all know as the Croshaw System into what it probably looked like when he saw it for the first time with all the wonder that I’m sure he felt.

Tech achievements are top-notch across the board. William Kurtz’s score is both sweeping and intimate.

Vid will appeal to multi-demo crowd though young children probably won’t like the science-speak. Available for Dish and Wave set this week, standard ul/dl costs apply.

JUMPER Review

US/Farbe/123min

By. Kevin Lazarus

Als Global/Nexus im vergangenen Jahr bekannt gab, dass es sich um ein weiteres Biopic des berühmten Astro-Pioniers Nick Croshaw handelte, erschien es uns absurd. Jeder und ihre Mutter kennen seine Geschichte, von seiner unerbittlichen Erforschung der Raumanomalie, die Schiffe zu verschlingen schien, bis hin zum ersten Mann, der einen Sprungpunkt entdeckt und erfolgreich navigiert hat. Wir waren alle schon mal hier. Ich bin sicher, dass es jemand gemalt hat, aber hier ist die Sache.... diese hier ist wirklich gut.

Ausgehend von einem Drehbuch des Newcomers Thomas Goss konnten Prods A-Listen-Talente wie Michael Forbe (Croshaw) und Lima Hannigan (Baxter) sowie Regisseur Ariel Kalil (Requiem's Run) gewinnen. Text und Vis hat ein Vérité-Feeling, das nicht bevormundet. Es verleiht dem, was immer der Stolperstein für frühere Versuche zur gleichen Geschichte war, der Anfangszeit, eine Vitalität und Dringlichkeit. Diese Periode von Croshaws Leben war effektiv Trial-and-Error, der versuchte zu verstehen, was die Anomalie verursacht hat und wie man sie konsequent auslöst, um sie zu öffnen, ist ziemlich trockenes Zeug, das im Wesentlichen auf Argumente über Astrophysik und Falten in Zeit/Raum reduziert wurde. Irgendwie mildern die Macher es gerade genug, um es zugänglich zu machen und Sie emotional einzubeziehen, ohne jedoch die intellektuell herausfordernden Elemente des Diskurses zu verlieren.

Sobald sich der Film in Croshaws Versuch begibt, die Fold zum ersten Mal zu überqueren, verlagert er sich in eine konventionellere Abenteuergeschichte, aber da er so einen wunderbaren Job gemacht hat, alles, was auf dem Spiel steht, einzurichten, ist man bereit für etwas etwas Etwas Schnelleres, was uns wahrscheinlich zum herausragenden Set-Piece im gesamten Vid führt. Jeder kennt die Gefahren der Sprungmarkierung, es ist wie das Fliegen durch ein Asteroidenfeld mit Nachbrennern. Das ist es, was man uns sagt. Jetzt können wir erleben, wie es sich anfühlen muss; die blendenden Geschwindigkeiten, der elende Schrecken, aber auch dieser Ansturm, dieses wahnsinnige Hoch des Skatens zum Rand und des Herauskommens auf der anderen Seite. Es macht es umso wahnsinniger und unglaublicher, dass dies tatsächlich passiert.

Der Vis, sobald der Croshaw auf der anderen Seite des Sprungpunktes herauskommt, ist makellos gemacht und regressiert das, was wir alle als Croshaw-System kennen, in das, wie es wahrscheinlich aussah, als er es zum ersten Mal sah, mit all dem Wunder, das er sich sicher fühlte.

Technische Errungenschaften sind in jeder Hinsicht erstklassig. William Kurtz' Partitur ist sowohl mitreißend als auch intim.

Vid wird die Multi-Demo-Crowd ansprechen, obwohl kleine Kinder wahrscheinlich das Wissenschaftsgespräch nicht mögen werden. Verfügbar für Dish and Wave Set diese Woche, Standard ul/dl Kosten gelten.

JUMPER Review

US/Color/123min

By. Kevin Lazarus
When Global/Nexus announced last year that it was embarking on yet another biopic of famed astro-pioneer Nick Croshaw, it seemed preposterous. Everybody and their mother knows his story; from his relentless study of the space anomaly that seemed to swallow ships whole to finally becoming the first man to discover and successfully navigate through a jump-point. We’ve all been here before. Seen it done on Vid, in song, I’m sure someone’s painted it, but here’s the thing… this one’s really good.

Starting with a script from newcomer Thomas Goss, Prods were able to attract A-list talent like Michael Forbe (Croshaw) and Lima Hannigan (Baxter) and director Ariel Kalil (Requiem’s Run). Text and Vis has a vérité feel that doesn’t patronize. It adds a vitality and urgency to what had always been the stumbling block for earlier attempts at the same story; the early days. This period of Croshaw’s life was effectively trial and error, attempting to understand what caused and how to consistently trigger the anomaly to open is pretty dry stuff, essentially boiling down to arguments about astrophysics and folds in time/space. Somehow the Makers tone it down just enough to make it accessible and get you emotionally involved but without losing the intellectually challenging elements of the discourse.

Once the film moves into Croshaw’s attempt to cross the Fold for the first time, it shifts into a more conventional adventure story but since it had done such a wonderful job setting up everything that’s at stake, you’re ready for something a little more fast-paced, which brings us to probably the stand-out set-piece in the entire Vid. Everyone knows the dangers of jump-point navigation, it’s like piloting through an asteroid field with afterburners on. That’s what we’re told. Now we can experience what it must feel like; the blinding speeds, the abject terror, but also that rush, that insane high of skating to the edge and coming out the other side. It makes it all the more insane and incredible that this actually happens.

The Vis once Croshaw comes out the other side of the jump-point are impeccably done, regressing what we all know as the Croshaw System into what it probably looked like when he saw it for the first time with all the wonder that I’m sure he felt.

Tech achievements are top-notch across the board. William Kurtz’s score is both sweeping and intimate.

Vid will appeal to multi-demo crowd though young children probably won’t like the science-speak. Available for Dish and Wave set this week, standard ul/dl costs apply.