In a system where remakes and sequels are the usual thing and original ideas are hard to come by, we are given Looper; a film that is all about the same old thing over and over.
Now this movie has a lot of awesomeness in it, so I will try not to put in major spoilers. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Joe, a looper. Bruce Willis plays old Joe. In the future time travel becomes illegal and the way the mob gets rid of people is to send them back in time. Loopers are in the past and they kill the people sent back in time. Hence we have our story with young Joe and old Joe.
When you look at the trailer, you feel that it gives you everything right in front of you and now you want to know how young Joe will deal with taking out old Joe, who escapes death. However, the story is complex and layered up to the top of the screen. When you think you know where the story is headed there is a complete 360 and you end up back where you started: saying, "What will happen now?"
Getting right to the acting before anything else: Every character in this show has an objective and story arc. Every character is delved into and given a mission, even if it doesn't seem like it at first. The two main characters, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Bruce Willis, give one heck of a performance. You cannot say that one is a side-character and one is a main character since they both play the same character. If you had to look at how much time they received on screen, it would probably be equal. At the end of the day, you feel a lot more for Bruce Willis, since you see what he has to go through. Another notable is Emily Blunt who always gives a great performance in whatever she is in.
The story is a complex piece of work when you look at it in every angle. Time travel is always a tricky thing to place in films, but this film does it well. The film also doesn't stall on keeping the story going. You don't get a 15 minute conversation on the rules of time travel. It is too the point, cause ultimately, Bruce Willis wouldn't know. The flaws in this story are only great if you are smart or if you know anything about time travel in general. It is not like Back to the Future, where, if you see yourself the whole world could collapse or you could faint.
Another interesting concept that they do not touch on a lot, but just enough, is the fact that the future can be changed. And for a second you watch the film and feel that everything will turn out the same as the older Bruce Willis predicted, but the film catches you off guard and you are thrown into a whirlwind of complexity and suspense.
The cool thing about the present that is in the movie (2044), is that it is more or less like our present (2012). Many things have changed, i.e. old cars have solar powered shields on their front hood, there are futuristic motorcycles, skyscrapers have gotten larger, and there is a genetic trait that many people have that let them use telekenesis. It goes to show that in 30 years technology wouldn't move as far as we hoped. However, phones did get smaller in this film to the point where they are just a glass screen.
I feel that I can sit here and write about this entire movie for hours. Sadly, I have to come to an end somewhere. This film could go in a hundred directions, and thankfully it went in this one. There were some predictable moments, but the majority of the film is balls to the walls surprising. There is a bunch of comedic moments, a bunch of moments where you want to cry your eyes out, and a bunch of WTF moments. When you see JGL kill people sent from the past it is terrific and horrifying. He takes them out like it is no biggy. The story jumps around a bunch in the beginning hour of the film, but it feels so fun, wonderful, and ultimately original.
A
The cast is great, especially JGL who has been having a stellar career so far, but the plot it what really kept me interested as it continued to throw twist-after-twist at me, without any confusion whatsoever. It’s a great sci-fi flick that actually makes sense. Good review.
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