Looper Movie Review

Looper Movie Review (Lucas)

 Looper is new film from writer/director, Rian Johnson, who has directed The Brothers Bloom and Brick which also starred Joeseph Gordan Levitt. Looper has a very unique and interesting premise, as it follows  Joe (Joeseph Gordan Levitt) who is a looper. The reason we have these looper's is because in the the year 2072 time travel is outlawed and the only people that use it are the mob. Since forensics are so good in the future they acn't kill anybody without getting caught, so they send the target back to the year 2042, where time travel hasn't been invented and the looper waits for them and kills them on sight. Joe follows his usually routine while he waits for his target in a field. He then notices the target as his future self (Bruce Willis) and his future self gets the drop on him and Joe has to find him or the mob will kill both of them.

 This is just the basic plot for looper as there is many more layers and plotlines that can be easily spoiled and the trailers have done a great job of not spoiling any of the suprises. I loved looper and it was such a refreshing movie in a year of mediocre blandness. The performances by everyone are solid, but I really liked the two leads. JGL has a lot of make up to make himself resemble a younger Bruce Willis and his imiation is pretty spot on, while creating his own character at the same time. Bruce Willis had a much more emotional performance than one would expect, and it was so refreshing to see Bruce Willis really tap in to his dramtic side, while also being incredibly fucking badass. Emily Blunt also has a crucial role in the sotry but if I talk any more about her I will be heading into spoiler territory.

 Rian Johnson has written a very clever script and knows that the details of time travel get messy, so even characters in the movie tell others not to go into specifics about how it works. The film has a very stylish look and looks pretty amazing for a 30 million dollar budget. The movie has a good sense of humour and the comedic scenes between JGL and Willis are really fun to watch. The actors performances are so good here, especially from Willis to were near the end of the film, I got seriously emotionally invested and made some scenes very tense. The action delivers in spades and this movie had some incredibly violent scenes that reminded me when I first saw drive for the first time. that really don't want to spoil but one involves Willis wielding dual guns and puts them to DAMN good use.

 The only real problem I had with looper is the middle portion of the film slows down a lot, almost jarringly slow compared to the first act. Fortuantely,you do learn a lot about the film's characters during this portion that still makes it worth watching and some very important plot lines come into play in this middle portion. You will get over that though, because loopers 3rd act takes some HUGE risks (no one is safe in this movie not even little kids) and delivers some very high octane and character driving action.

 Overall, looper is a entertaining sci fi flick that is smart, has a lot of suprises, and a good amount of action. The film always keeps you guessing while getting you emotionally invested into your main characters and who could ask for more than that. I give looper 4.5 stars out of 5 and is one the best and original films of the year.