Movie #22 - Looper

What would you do if you had to choose between assassinating a future version of yourself, or face being killed yourself?  That is the fascinating dilemma at the centre of the new sci-fi drama/action flick Looper starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt (who played John Blake in The Dark Knight Rises and Arthur in Inception). Another take on a dystopian future but one that takes a very intelligent look at it.  This movie will make you think "what would I do?"

Set in the year 2042, Joe G-L plays a guy named Joe who is employed as a 'looper'.  The voiceover intro explains that a looper is someone who is employed by a guy sent back in time by the future Mob bosses to run the loopers, who are paid in silver bricks to kill people sent back in time for that purpose and then dispose of the body.  Apparently it is too difficult in 2072 to dispose of bodies so the Mob send their enemies back 30 years where it was still possible.  There is a little bit of time travel trickery in this movie but they don't really spend a lot of time explaining the reason for things, you just need to go with it.  And the way the movie presented it, we did go with it without feeling too silly at all.  It's quite clever to put a line in the movie to say "don't worry about this time travel stuff or we'll be sitting in this diner all day making diagrams with straws" since that is essentially what they want the viewer to agree with.

OK so once you're on board with the concept, the movie is very good.  Plenty of suspense, a few good little sci fi action scenes with hoverbikes and cool guns and telekenetic powers (may be less frequent than the ads will make it seem  though) and a real emotional punch.  Bruce Willis plays future Joe, sent back in time to be killed by young Joe (known as 'closing the loop') but somehow escaping the normal fate. Future Joe is on a mission to find and kill the younger version of a scary guy in the future known only as "The Rainmaker" but young Joe just wants to close the loop and return to the remaining 30 years of his life.  The actions that these two guys take to do what they both think is right is really interesting and puts them on a collision course in the (slightly predictable) ending.  There is one unthinkable act in this movie and a few gory bits so you need to have a fairly strong stomach for this one.

What sets this apart from other sci-fi films is the quality of the acting and script.  I fully believe that Joe Gordon-Levitt will be a massive star in the future, he's excellent in every way.  He went through hours of makeup every day to look like a younger Bruce Willis and I must say it was very believable - he has the mannerisms down.  Bruce Willis gives good jaded tough guy as usual.  Emily Blunt (almost unrecognisable blonde) sinks her teeth into a strong role as the farm owner Sara and mother to 10 year old Cid, who take in young Joe when he is on the run from his looper bosses for not kiling his future self.  What secret is Sara protecting?  The mystery around her and Cid's relationship provides the fodder for the second half of the movie to really take off.

The script is also great, with the action swinging between dystopian city and peaceful rural farm in a very interesting way.  It's just not quite like anything else you've seen.  Which is the trademark of the writer and director Rian Johnson.  I loved his earlier movie Brick (also starring Joe Gordon-Levitt) and I really liked this one as well.  The only thing stopping me from giving this 5 stars is the predictable ending and sometimes the pace is a little slow, and I felt a little 'disengaged' from it.  But it sure beats the hell out of a mindless remake of Total Recall to satisfy your sci fi longings!