Movie Review: Looper

There are certain films that just lend themselves to inadvertent, or in the case of some critics, seemingly intentional spoilers. Looper, the latest from writer/director Rian Johnson is very much one of those films. I purposely refrained from reading any reviews prior to seeing Looper, but in the time since seeing it I have yet to read any review wholly free of what I would consider spoilers.

I think there's a tendency for critics to over-explain movies with a somewhat complicated or inventive story or plot structure in an attempt to make their summaries coherent. Had they taken any hint from Looper's official marketing, which has done a great job of being enticing yet remaining cryptic enough to stay spoiler-free, they would have realized that in this case, less is more.

Even those reviewers who tried to stay vague seemed to resort to statements like "it has elements of movie A, movie B, and movie C." Because Looper CAN be described as a blend of this nature, those type of statements end up being on the nose, and thus are in and of themselves hinting at important narrative points.

With that in mind, what follows is basically a synopsis derived from the theatrical trailer. Any more would do a disservice to those who haven't seen it. Joe (a makeup and prosthetic enhanced Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a "looper" in the year 2044. Loopers are hit men whose victims are sent back to 2044 from the future by mafia-types who control a then illegal time travel system. It isn't clear what the loopers' victims did to warrant their fate, but the silver bars which accompany them are enough to make the loopers not ask questions.

Joe, his friend Seth (Paul Dano), and the rest of the loopers live extravagant lifestyles, with impressive studio apartments, designer drugs, and high-end prostitutes. All goes according to plan until Joe's future self (Bruce Willis) is sent back for termination. A momentary hesitation allows old-Joe to escape wit his life, setting off a chase and series of events that are better left undiscussed at this point.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt continues to establish his versatility and likability in leading roles. The fact that Joe is a quintessential anti-hero is of little consequence. At first glance, it's odd to see JGL looking so unlike himself, and the idea that they would try to make him look like a young Bruce Willis seemed silly, but as the movie went on, I actually bought it. A lot of this had to do with the fact that JGL nailed Willis' mannerisms and diction, but I began noticing physical similarities as well. Maybe I'm crazy.

One actor I was not impressed with was Paul Dano, who I have great respect for as an actor, but who overacted his limited scenes here to the point of caricature. There's also a secondary antagonist played by Noah Segan (perhaps best known for his role in Johnson's fantastic debut Brick) who does a fine job, but whose character is more or less filler, showing up only when momentary conflict was needed and/or desired.

For me, Looper's biggest asset is that it's intelligent enough to keep your mind churning while never becoming too complicated. In fact, its time travel mechanism is surprisingly simple - Johnson gives the viewer just enough to understand the basic logistics and leaves most everything else to the imagination. More often than not, descriptions come in the form of visual sequences that allow the viewer to "see" the way time travel works rather than listening to dialogue detailing the process. This is hugely beneficial.

Does it make sense? Basically. I mean, it makes as much sense as time travel can. There will always be holes and logical inconsistencies when time travel is thought out because, well, it isn't real. Looper embraces these inconsistencies rather than trying to explain them away.

Despite being set a ways into the future, the world Johnson has created feels oddly familiar. Sure, the downtown metropolis (which is most likely supposed to be Kansas City) looks like a run down, futuristic version of any modern big city, but it would be hard to differentiate certain aspects of the city and some rural settings from what we know today. There also appear to by cyclical trends in fashion and vehicles not unlike trends in our modern society. All of this, combined with Gordon-Levitt's dry, detached voiceover, gives the film a traditional noir tone to compliment its strong science fiction base. 

At least this is the way things go for around the first third of Looper. At that point the film takes a hard right turn into unexpected territory that is so vastly different from what we we've just adjusted to that it definitely catches you off guard. There are a small handful of moments that generically foreshadow where we're headed, but it's a credit to Johnson's script that he's able to throw these little bits our way while still keeping the finale very much in the dark. It's predictable, yet unpredictable, if that makes sense. With about ten minutes left, I still had no idea how it was all going to end.

10/11