Looper centres on Midwest American gangsters in the future who are using time-travel for their homicidal purposes. Quite a premise, one that transmits to screen magnificently in what is surely one of the best sci-fi films in the last few years. Looper is intriguing and occasionally moving but is above all, extremely exciting.
Looper is the third film to be written and directed by Rian Johnson and will ensure him wider recognition. Johnson has created a complex plot in a strange and sorry future setting; however the script and direction ensure that few things will go over the audience’s head, which is one of the hazards in any film with fantasy elements like time-travel. Johnson has said himself that he didn’t want the intricacies of time-travel to distract from what is ultimately a character-based movie, which is a pledge he lives up to. Most people will already understand the basic premise from the enticing trailer; a young hitman called Joe (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) fails to dispatch his older self (played by Bruce Willis) who is sent back in time to get killed by himself. This part of the plot takes a while to kick in but never fear because there is plenty of suspense and surprise prior to and following that scene, which I won’t spoil for you.
The film is packed with plenty of brilliant action sequences involving fighting, chasing and shooting. The violence is very bloody and frenzied, yet despite this the film’s most horrifying scene is completely bloodless but effective in showing what is at stake for both Joes. The setting is very vivid, juxtaposing retro and futuristic styles and technologies, as well as rural and urban landscapes. All these things help the film’s biggest virtue, its near-perfect pacing. While the action is certainly thrilling, it is the two/three lead characters who make it engaging. Both Joes are pursuing urgent but markedly different ends in a somewhat contrasting manner, leading to plenty of outer tension with himself. Their story becomes intertwined with Sara’s (played by Emily Blunt), a single-mother raising her son on her isolated farm. Sara is a secretive character who steadily gains the audience’s interest as her role becomes evident. All two/three are well written and performed characters that we can sympathise with even if what they do is morally questionable.
The issue of principle is one of Looper’s freshest features, departing from anything too formulaic by presenting very fuzzy ethical dilemmas without disengaging the audience. Even the main antagonists don’t seem particularly villainous or dislikeable. The mob-boss Abe (played by Jeff Daniels), reminds me more of The Dude than The Don and the cocky mob-enforcer Kid Blue (played by Noah Sagan) just appears to be above-all misguided. Indeed in this violent and anarchic future, the ethics of several actions by characters are open to discussion.
It is hard to find much to find wrong with Looper; the music isn’t particularly memorable but it does its job, there are some plot details one is susceptible to miss but they aren’t vital and our view of the future Bruce Willis is from isn’t very clear but it isn’t supposed to be because nothing is certain even if it has already happened. The future in Looper is just as opaque as our own, with a few suggestions and silhouettes about what might be. This is also reflected in the film’s originality which when combined with other virtues helps create one of the most surprising and satisfying experiences you’ll see on screen this year.
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