Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

Jumpin' Jack Flash Blu-ray Movie Review

More fizzle than flash.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 3, 2013

The 1980s enjoyed a very healthy dose of big movies with big stars and unforgettable moments that have carried on a legacy now decades removed from its prime and time on the calendar. It wasn't so much an era of originality but certainly of huge star vehicles cranked out all assembly line-like and planted in theaters that hoped to draw audiences on name recognition more so than plot specifics. That's certainly a simplification and not encompassing of everything in the decade, but it also holds rather true on a macro, big-budget, big-name level. Jumpin' Jack Flash might be the essence of the 80s big star movie factory gone wrong, particularly in contrast to movies like Lethal Weapon and Beverly Hills Cop that represent the opposite end of the spectrum. Jumpin' Jack Flash, contrary to its name, lacks in the way of kinetic energy. It's not short on enthusiasm -- Star Whoopi Goldberg sees to that -- but despite the best efforts of its star the movie barely leaps off the ground rather than boldly asking, "how high?" It's a movie with its moments and a nice and tidy little ending, but for one of the bigger names in 1980s fare it sure does prove rather disappointing both in hindsight and compared and contrasted to the big movies with bigger stars that the decade produced and fans have long embraced.

This chat thing has so much potential!

Terry Dolittle (Goldberg) works a rather mundane job handling computerized money transfers from overseas. She's quite the talented computer expert and regularly lets loose with a bubbly personality that her co-workers enjoy and her clients love. Unfortunately, she's told from up high to put an end to the online interpersonal relationships she's formed and keep her communications strictly business. Nevertheless, her computer terminal occasionally picks up Russian television programming and, one day, something more. A line of text appears on her screen that's said to be from the handle "Jumpin' Jack Flash." Terry is left to decipher the meaning and, thereby, the password. When she does, she learns that her chat partner is a British agent trapped behind enemy lines. He tasks Terry with carrying out delicate intelligence maneuvers to aid in his escape, but she'll have to face off against some ruthless enemies if she's to succeed and walk away unscathed from a brewing international incident.

There's a clumsiness to the film's routine and an evident absence of purpose. Then-rookie Director Penny Marshall -- who would mature in her craft and direct some fantastic films like Big and A League of Their Own -- shows a timidity here, though certainly the script suffers compared to the charm and flavor of her later projects. It's a script largely devoid of excitement, if not purpose. While the general plot threads are easy enough to follow, the film becomes so lost in every moment that the bigger picture never has time to settle in. Instead, the movie is one folly after another as Terry bumbles her way around embassies, apartments, parties, and run-ins with gun-toting and tool-wielding bad guys who want to put a hole in her leg or saw off her fingers. Goldberg certainly tries her best to find a happy medium, to establish her character beyond stock and unearth some humor where none exists, but her energy is sadly overwhelmed by the behemoth that surrounds her. Ultimately, the movie stutters on every front, failing to really nail a broader sense of humor, to create a dark and mysterious spy game atmosphere, to find the deeper drama of the greater story, and to craft action scenes with more appeal and less lethargy. It's a film with unrealized potential, even as it maneuvers through very basic plot pieces.

The film does enjoy a good bit of star power that's a who's-who of 1980s names and faces, from Whoopi Goldberg and Jim Belushi down to character actors like Carol Kane and Jon Lovitz. Still, most everyone but Goldberg may as well be a cardboard cutout; Kane is the only one beyond Goldberg that finds some spunk, and that's thanks to her ability to cut through the script and play the character she so frequently plays, that of the background personality who's partially charming and partially annoying, a combination at which she excels. Another area where the film works well is in its almost prescient use of computer technology. The film is built almost entirely around the earliest days of computer chatting, banking, business, espionage, and even romance. It may not enjoy the same type of interface or portability or even the colorful emoticons of today, but the core language remains and the picture's incorporation of what, for then, must have been fairly forward-thinking pieces at the very dawn of the digital revolution proves quite interesting in hindsight.

Jumpin' Jack Flash Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Jumpin' Jack Flash's high definition presentation starts weakly and picks up steam thereafter. The opening title sequence looks terrible. It's fuzzy, poorly defined, blandly colored, and littered with static spots and splotches. Afterwards, it improves considerably, though not to upper-tier levels. Instead, it offers a good, basic high definition image quality for a midlevel catalogue title that's been plopped onto disc for budget release (really, can't get more budget than no menu screen). It features adequate details and clarity, at its best, and a fairly flat general appearance. Terry's clothes, which should reveal some standout textures, often appear fuzzy and show only the most basic details. Skin textures never surpass "average," though various odds and ends around her office enjoy decent texturing thanks to Blu-ray's increased resolution over standard definition. Colors are nothing to write home about, either. The palette proves rather bland, generally, though some brighter shades of red do stand apart, even considering a lack of color subtlety. Black crush is the norm, but flesh tones aren't too far off course. There are a few smudges here and there, the most noticeable being in chapter two when Terry sings along with the Rolling Stones. It's a decent enough transfer, but certainly not a definitive home video presentation.

Jumpin' Jack Flash Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Jumpin' Jack Flash's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack satisfies on a general level and for a lower end catalogue release. It has its moments of ups and downs, times when it would demand a higher score and a lower score. In other words, it's fairly inconsistent, at times wildly so. It's weak very early on but gains some energy when Terry jumps out of bed, not really exploding into the stage but at least offering an increase in volume, effort, clarity, and spacing, including a decent surround element. Light office ambience and other environmental effects don't really add much more than basic nuance to the track. Action-oriented effects prove most off-kilter; a scene in which a tow truck drags a phone booth down the street really fails to capture much of any significant energy or presence, but a shootout later in the film does stretch the track to its limits with more aggression than at any other point in the film. Dialogue does come through evenly enough from the center.

Jumpin' Jack Flash Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Jumpin' Jack Flash contains no extras, and no menu is included. The film begins playback immediately after disc insertion. Optional English SDH subtitles must be switched on or off in-film with the remote control.

Jumpin' Jack Flash Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Even nostalgia cannot save Jumpin' Jack Flash. It's a terribly slow and choppy film, one built on stale ideas (with an admittedly interesting pre-Internet revolution use of online chat) and middling execution. Star Whoopi Goldberg can only charm audiences so much before even she cannot hide an otherwise vacuous and lethargic structure. The film has its moments, including a satisfying, crowd-pleasing final minute or two, but it's a small reward for sitting through such a large mess. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of Jumpin' Jack Flash features adequate video and audio. No extras are included. Worth a rental.