Looper

This review has been a long time coming - ironically!
I'd like to start by commenting on the poster I chose to accompany this review. Mondo have triumphed once again, with this fantastic design by Martin Ansin. Ansin has truly captured the film within this complex design - I am somewhat in awe!

I saw Looper soon after it's release, having already garnered many a glowing review. Hopes were high for what was already being touted as a classic of it's genre. I was a big fan of Rian Johnsons first feature, Brick - and was looking forward to a return to form after the disappointing, The Brothers Bloom.

The year is 2044 and Loopers are part of the criminal underworld. Their particular purpose is to murder people from the future (as it's impossible to get away with murder in the year 2074). The man responsible for this criminal enterprise is known as The Rainmaker and he orchestrates proceedings from the future.
Head of his organisation in the past is Abe (Jeff Daniels), who has a team of Loopers under his command - one such Looper is Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).
Things get tricky when Loopers (since retired) are sent back from the future to be killed - often by their younger selves. This happens occasionally to begin with - and is known to Joe and his team as, 'closing ones loop'. More loops are closed and it's not long before Joe is face to face (literally) with his future self (Bruce Willis)!

Looper is complex and intriguing - and like the best time-travel stories, plays with destiny and fate to thrilling effect. With a smart script, Johnson puts what I imagine was only a moderate budget up on the screen. The future setting is not unlike our own, thus grounding his characters in a feasible reality. There is plenty of style to be had with some fabulously choreographed sequences and camera work - however this never overwhelms the core story.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt reunites with his Brick director here and convinces (thanks in no small part to some unusual prosthetics) as a young Bruce Willis. Willis himself is very good, walking a thin line between hero and villain. The standout for me was Emily Blunt (almost as unrecognisable as Levitt) as single parent, Sara.

Despite my enjoyment I did have a few reservations. I didn't quite understand the purpose behind sending older Loopers back in time in the first place. The character of Joe poses no threat to The Rainmaker, until he is sent back. There's a bit of 'the chicken or the egg' thing going on here which leaves the film open to speculation and conjecture - not always a good thing.
Also, there are a couple of sequences with hover-bikes that didn't quite work for me - they spoil an otherwise slick-looking production.

I look forward to seeing it again. This is certainly a very intelligent and entertaining film which will undoubtedly reward with multiple viewings.

4/5


Poster image courtesy: www.mondoarchive.com
Artist: Martin Ansin