Looper
Writer /
Director: Rian Johnson
This review hasn’t been written yet. but it will be…
You are a mobster. The year is 2074. The marvel of time
travel exists. It’s forbidden but well within your grasp. What would you do?
Well, you use time travel as a convenient, untraceable human disposal method,
silly! An interesting take on a genre that’s been tackled countless times over
the years. It makes a real difference when sci-fi, supernatural elements of a
film like Looper sit in a solid
foundation of logic; it’s easier to embrace & accept. That’s not to say
there aren’t a few time travel questions that’ll crop up in your head when you
watch this but honestly, there always are with this genre! If you are one of
those that will revel in analysing the intricacies’ of a plot (to death), you
will definitely stop yourself enjoying a perfectly good film and frankly miss
the point – go with it: I did and found it easy enough to not get hung up on
those niggles.
Helping avoid those hang ups further, is the futuristic
backdrop which is deliberately not ‘totally out there’. Aside from a few
hovering vehicles, basic telepathy being commonplace and the odd totally
transparent mobile device, most of the setting & surroundings are not a
huge leap from what we know today. It’s easy to relate to which lets you focus
on the actual film.
The opening scene grabs you and remains reluctant to let go
until the credits. Rather like the unsuspecting time travel victims prepped
with bags-on-heads to meet their doom, the opening scene narrated by our lead
man, Joseph Gordon-Levitt bluntly dumps you into this reality – (I won’t spoil
the detail for you but the opening made me smile in a ‘dark, yet cool’ kind of
way). The whole concept is succinctly explained and underpinned by some subtly
excellent acting from Levitt which continues throughout.
Levitt plays Joe, one of several ‘Loopers’ in the year 2044
who have the remit to unceremoniously ‘knock off’ arrivals from around 30 years
in the future with the close-range firearm of choice known as a ‘Blunderbuss’
and dispose of the bodies. Joe’s existence appears uninspiring and futile from
the start; drugs, prostitutes, murder but all consistently accompanied by an
endearing sense of regret, hope and ambition battling to the surface… difficult
to imagine how this guy’s life could get much worse, until a bag-free, future
‘Joe’ played by Bruce Willis lands on his kill spot. One pull of the trigger
and Joe’s loop is closed but the alternative is a life on the run from the mob,
led in young Joe’s time by ‘Abe’ (Jeff Daniels). The film goes on to reveal more
about why and how this occurred and specifically more about someone called ‘the
rainmaker’: a powerful man in the future who is systematically closing all the
loops.
The script I imagine was a blessing for some of the actors /
actresses, with several characters packing plenty of meat to sink their teeth
into. So, it’s no surprise that Looper
boasts a star studded cast (Willis, Levitt, Daniels, Paul Dano, Emily Blunt…)
with some noteworthy performances.
Full marks go to Levitt for what I thought was a subtle and
mature performance in a lead role opposite legendary veteran, Willis - another
stride forward from his recent role in The
Dark Knight Rises. Both manage to straddle the rather crude “goody / baddy”
camps which I often create in my head when watching any film (everyone does
this, right?....guys?...). You’ll find yourself rooting for both of them at
different points, letting the questionable morals of each wash over you.
Interestingly, Levitt has prosthetic facial alterations, to
make a more believable younger Willis. I did in hindsight question whether I
paid more attention to his performance because of this; a bit like a friend
sporting a bad haircut, it’s tough to not stare at the thing! – but then I
thought harder and realised I really didn’t care that much: a very good
performance in my opinion and it didn’t distract too much for me.
It was also refreshing to see Willis deliver an arguably
more gritty character to the screen than the norm – it would have been easy to
write & play this role in typical blockbuster-movie-style, as a smooth
& assured, highly trained killer or something but there’s a clear sense of
vulnerability and uncertainty throughout which I enjoyed. This is definitely
amplified purely because it’s Bruce Willis which may have been deliberate
casting choice (fair play, why not). More so than any other, Willis is faced
with gut wrenching circumstances and decisions, centred around morals vs love
(yes - of course there’s love in the plot, every film has a dash of love… it’s
all we need, don’t argue with The Beatles).
For the more thoughtful film goers, you can easily pick out
a few core themes, one of which is the importance of childhood and what a
massive difference this can make to an individual. And what would you say to
yourself in 30 years time? What would they (or rather, you…) say to you…?!
That’s one of the interesting questions you’ll leave the cinema with. In the
case of Bruce & Joseph (Joe), neither are impressed! Perhaps the deeper
thinkers amongst us would say this film could be viewed as a useful kick up the
ass: life is indeed unfolding rapidly in front of us and you don’t want the
future you to be a disappointment, do you? And what would a future you think of
you right now? Not good? …so make it better! …anyway, luckily for you, this
review is no-where near as deep as that.
Looper sports a
healthy balance of intrigue, suspense, action and sci-fi, keeps a fair pace
throughout and to Johnson’s credit, it’s easy enough to follow - the whole time
travel thing can make your brain hurt at the best of times but with only a
couple of moments of self-doubt aside, it was straight forward enough to grasp
whilst being complex enough to be interesting.
You should go see this film, but my only advice before you
do is: please, don’t overthink it!
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