Movies: Looper

Score:  **** out of ***** (B+)

Long Story Short:  Joseph Gordon-Levitt extends his big year at the movies as he stars in this new sci-fi action film.  Built on a sturdy and intriguing premise of a man meeting an older version of himself, Looper puts the action in a gritty, well fleshed-out near future setting.  The level of violence may surprise you, making Bruce Willis a natural fit as the older Gordon-Levitt (facial prosthetics make JGL truly look like Baby Willis).  Very well done, if perhaps not a film that leaves a lasting impression.


Finally, a new movie review!  September, as usual, was a bad month for film, with Looper being the only one that got my interest.  There are two other films out right now, The Master and Perks of Being a Wallflower, that look good but currently are not playing in my area, unfortunately.  Anyway, when I first heard about Looper, it seemed like an interesting premise with an actor I like (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).  And then I heard the actors seemed quite enthusiastic about the film, and it came out to excellent reviews (93% on Rotten Tomatoes).  This, combined with my recent drought in trips to the theater, made it an obvious choice.  Looper was directed by Rian Johnson (his third film) and stars Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, and Emily Blunt.

Looper is set in a near-future America (2044 according to Wikipedia; I don't remember this being said in the film).  The country has fallen into decay, and Joe (Gordon-Levitt), a young man, works for the mob in a rather unique way.  He is a Looper:  the mob from thirty years in the future uses time travel to send its victims back in time for disposal so that their bodies are never found.  Joe is good at his job, and enjoys the benefits (drugs, girls) that his employment provides him.  However, the reality of his situation begins to dawn on him when a friend goes on the run and asks him for protection; Joe sees how fragile his life really is.

Things take an even worse turn when Joe's next target turns out to be... himself (Willis).  Of course, his old self is not the usual hapless victim, and Old Joe escapes.  While Joe is desperate to put down his old self or be hunted like his friend, Old Joe has a mission of his own to stop a future personal tragedy from occurring.  As Joe struggles to decide what to do, another variable gets thrown into the mix and forces him to defend someone else for the first time.

The performances in Looper are good, though nothing especially outstanding.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt again does a very good job; as earnest and selfless as he was in The Dark Knight Rises, he is equally as convincing in his indifference and self-interest for (most of) this film.  Gordon-Levitt makes Joe likable enough, despite his character's flaws, to carry the film's emotional weight.  Bruce Willis as "old Joe" does a decent job; really he's basically a more ruthless John McClane from Die Hard.  Old Joe is interesting in comparing him to the his younger self, not in watching Willis do something new.  Emily Blunt does a fine job in a role I did not describe in the plot synopsis; all you need to know at this point is that she plays a normal woman with genuine, powerful concern for her family.  The supporting cast includes Paul Dano as Joe's friend on the run (brief but effectively creepy plot); Noah Segan as a mob hitman (dark comic relief); and Jeff Daniels as the mob boss (very entertaining).

The premise of Looper - a young man assigned to kill his older self - is the central and most interesting aspect of the film.  However, the futuristic setting itself is surprisingly well crafted, too.  There are plenty of near-future sci-fi films out there, and typically a few obvious details spell out how it's different from the present day, and then the rest is unimportant.  Looper, though, is filled with small but very interesting details about how this future America looks - not just using a few new gadgets, but in having characters interact so naturally with everything around them, from hoverbikes to eye-drop drugs.  The film also really drives home the horror of violence, which I was not expecting from previews.  This is an R-rated film, and there's plenty of blood and a few mangled bodies - but the anticipation of potential violence here is just as terrifying.  There is a little bit of humor in the film, but not much; it's the emotional stakes that are intended to balance out the violence and overall gloom of the future society.

***

Looper sets itself apart as perhaps the best near-future sci-fi action film in years.  It uses the idea of a man forced to confront his older self (don't worry, the time travel itself is not that important here; there's no Inception-level technical exposition) as the core and supports it with a bleak yet well developed setting that balances a ruthless, kill-or-be-killed reality with unexpected yet believable and powerful hope.  Now, that sounds like high praise, which I meant it to be - and yet, it doesn't quite close all the loops, I guess you could say.  As another reviewer I read noted, just about all the elements work, but there's no magic that ties it all together to create those special moments you get in a truly great film.  Most of the separate elements are well done to one degree or another, and they're thematically coherent (in contrast with, say, this year's Spider-Man), but it's not what I call a memorable film.  Plus, the one technical gripe I'd make about it is that it's a bit too long; perhaps fifteen minutes taken here and there could have been shaved off.  If you can't take R violence, you might want to avoid this film, but otherwise, I do highly recommend it as a (rare) entertaining and engrossing fall action film.