Looper (2012)

So so very confusing at first but I think I've worked this out now, I think. Very clever sci-fi and very intriguing but my god time travel is a bitch to follow at times haha. I really had to sit back and think about this at times, take it slow.

I won't go into the plot too much here as it may take time and I may reveal spoilers by mistake. I'm probably wrong about it myself. Even though this film is based on time travel its not a flashy effects time travel action film, its much more character driven with a solid premise requiring some thought.

'Joe' is a Looper, someone who kills people for the mob. The mob happens to be based 30yrs in the future. They send their targets back through time (which is highly illegal and only used by bigtime mobsters...somehow) to the Looper who then whacks them. This means the now dead target no longer exists in the future, but I'm unsure about his present day existence to be honest. I think he lives out the next 30yrs (the gap between present and future in the film) until the point where he is caught by the mob and sent back in time to be killed, no way out. Either that or he will just cease to exist at the time and date of death by the Looper.

This leads me to questions, many questions hehe. When someone is killed by a Looper what exactly happens to their present form? does it vanish into nothing or do they indeed continue living until the point of execution back in the past? (where they are sent by the mobsters). If so then surely this cycle would just go on and on wouldn't it?.

It does actually hurt your brain trying to get this nailed down. Other smaller issues don't quite feel right either, though not time related. The Loopers are assassins for the mob yet the job comes across like a government job with their own offices, weapons storage, pay department etc...Joe tells us that he cleans up the trash of the future which again makes you think its a proper pensioned government type job, it really doesn't feel like the mob a tall. The mob also seems to be able to pay all their Loopers in silver or gold so they must have easy access to these metals in the future or they are really rich mobsters.

The idea of 'closing the loop' also makes me wonder. Why on earth would anyone take a job where they know they could have their contract cancelled at any point and then be whacked themselves. The bizarre notion being they whack themselves, and they know it will definitely happen at some point when they accepted the job as a Looper in the first place. Then they only have 30yrs with their final payment to enjoy themselves before reaching the future moment where they were sent back to the past be killed (you get that?). Not a job for me thank you.

The prosthetic makeup used on Levitt to give him the looks of Willis is really good I must say, his eye colour was a bit off but overall it really worked well when they could of just left it. The casting of Levitt was inspired for the main role or Joe, as for Willis' role...well anyone could of done that really, I don't rate the guy to be honest. The other let down was Daniels as the mob boss who has come from the future to look after the past. Not very threatening or intimidating really, not the type of guy you would choose for this role I think, he's too nice.

I also liked other subtle little futuristic touches like the 'Star Wars' style hover bikes, slight tweaks to skyscrapers and building designs plus some nice innovative touch screen technology throughout. Nothing amazing but it helped to give the impression of a slightly advanced future that isn't too unrecognisable or overblown. Overall the film is very minimalistic and extremely grounded with nothing much in the way of big budget effects.

The later half does get rather 'Omen-ish' towards the end with the little brat and his monotone ramblings and evil stares. Hard to believe 'Joe' takes soooo long to realise the little kid he's with all that time is the one he's after geez! pretty obvious. Also why Joe decides to then help the kid! duh!? the kid is telekinetically unstable. Bottom line we don't actually know what this kid will do in the future other than close all Loops and take over organised crime, I guess we are meant to believe he will become a super villain type person?.

The first half of the film set in the city is much better visually and for the story, everything on the farm gets pretty drab frankly. So yes I found myself asking many questions and there are the odd moments of dumb action like when Willis manages to gun down all the bad guys despite the fact they have him pinned down at point blank range but I still liked the film as a very original sci-fi. A tad overly long but the film does exactly what it should and that is to make you think, get you involved deeply.

In the end I felt sorry for older Joe played by Willis, was I suppose to? haha.

7/10