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This dark sci-fi action film written and directed by Rian Johnson was released theatrically
on September 28, 2012 to critical, and commercial success. Wearing an almost distractingly ample
amount of prosthetic make-up to resemble his older counter-part, Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars
as the title character. Opening with an expositional heavy, but rather interesting narration JGL,
we're introduced to Kansas, 2044, a depressing dystopian future where time travel exists,
but has been outlawed: leaving hired guns known as Loopers, like JGL to execute mob
victims sent back from the even more distant future. When Bruce Willis, an older version
of Gordon-Levitt's character is sent back through time to be executed by himself, things
get very fun, and complicated awfully fast. Like Willis, fellow co-star Jeff Daniels is
no stranger to time travel themed stories either: and both veteran actors contribute
some of their best performances in years. I only wish we got to see more of them, even
in this loosely paced 118-minute picture, they spend a great deal of screen time languishing
in the background. Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, and Pierce Gagnon round out the cast with
equally tremendous performances: especially considering some of the fantastic material
they're working with. This is an intriguing and original story, with a modern sci-fi application,
especially an intense time-ripple sequence where an enemy of the mob attempts to outrun
his captors, while his younger self is slowly maimed and amputated, causing the instantaneous
loss of his appendages as he tries to escape. The scenes between Willis and Gordon-Levitt
featuring riveting conversations, with both lecturing and blaming the other for their
problems in life. It's great time-travel driven sequences like this, which throw the grandfather
paradox caution to the wind, that deliver this movie's appeal and enjoyment. Sharing
parallel's to last year's equally promising "In Time", I was unfortunately disappointed
by Looper's lackluster 2nd-half. After opening with such an incredibly fascinating concept,
and excellent characters... the movie dissolves into a rather bland 'fugitive on the lam'
story, all but abandoning the futuristic mob executions and time travel elements established
earlier, leaving me wondering if they'd ever return. The final climax brings everything
back together with exciting final development, but by then the plot had lost its urgency.
With so much potentially, in such a richly diverse and developed universe, the direction
of the script was sadly a wasted opportunity, resorting to a hackneyed telekinesis sub-plot
in the 11th hour for thrills. A fun, action thriller with splendid visuals, and musical
score aside, this movie is far less intelligent that it thinks it is. Great escapist cinema,
but there wasn't enough here to have me clamoring for a second showing any time soon. "Looper",
"Stellar concept, doesn't completely deliver". Plenty left reviews for this picture, so lets
read some now from the YouTube comments.
Our scores for "Looper": a NINE and a SEVEN. Loving the explosive conclusion, and realistic
time travel implementation, you gave this movie an AWESOME. Given the level of talent
involved, and the supremely compelling narrative, I expected more here. More action, more Bruce
Willis, and definitely more time travel. Definitely an above average picture, but not one of 2012's
best. I thought it was COOL.