You know, now that the Summer release season had closed and the huge releases had their time to shine, I was almost certain that the best had come and gone. What I did not expect was for this movie to come out of nowhere and grab my interest: Looper. It had a strong cast behind it and the previews got my attention, but new properties are always risky, as they can go either way. Especially when dealing with a plot that has to do with time travel, which tends to make things complicated as all hell. I was afraid that this would just be another generic sci-fi movie. Were my fears realized, or unneeded? I've watched it, and here's my review.
Keep in mind that this is MY review. Your opinion may very well differ from mine.
Story
It's the year 2044, and in 30 years, time travel will be created, and immediately made illegal. The only people who use it are large crime organizations that need to have someone killed with absolutely no evidence. So, they send that person to the past, where an executioner, known as a Looper, is waiting to kill and dispose of them. Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a Looper, living his days doing drugs and killing men sent from the future. However, on one job, Joe finds his future self in front of him (Bruce Willis). The older Joe takes his chance to escape, and Joe must hunt down his future self and kill him, while the older Joe has his own agenda he wishes to carry out.
I'll start by saying that there is a LOT more to the story of Looper than the ads lead you to believe, but for the sake of avoiding spoilers, I'll avoid telling you. What I can say is that Looper surprised me with its story. Rather than being what I expected, which was a typical cat-and-mouse sci-fi thriller, it turned out to be much more than that. One particular aspect that impressed me was how they dealt with the time travel aspect. One thing about time travel that's almost completely constant in media, is that when it's explained, it just opens up plothole after plothole that begins to eat away at the movie. In Looper, they literally say "How it works is not important in the slightest, so just forget about it," and they leave it at that. Ironically, that's probably the best description given to time travel I have heard in a while.
Another thing that impressed me was how much I did not see coming. There are quite a few genuine surprises in this movie, and one particular moment in the movie where my entire theater was dead silent, followed by them actually audibly going "Woah..." The characters are well done as well. Joe is, while undeniably selfish and kind of an ass, never crosses the line as to becoming unlikeable, and the older Joe is a character that you sympathize with and feel for, despite some of the things his situation forces him to do. I will, however, say that the second act of the movie moves relatively slowly, and while I wouldn't exactly say I lost interest, I did begin to get bored.
Acting
Okay, whether it's a good movie or a bad movie, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a damn good actor, plain and simple. As the lead role, Levitt easily carries this movie, serving as a reminder to why he is quickly becoming one of my favourite actors. Bruce Willis has a history of being a great actor, whether it's in just a typical action movie or something more than that. This movie being a sort of combo of the two, Willis brings out an awesome, emotional, and generally badass performance. There's a child actor in this movie too, and despite the fact that most child actors range from "Eh..." to "Dear God, why?" he does a pretty solid job. The rest of the supporting cast does a solid job as well, though there was a moment here and there when the acting slightly faultered. Those moments were few and far between, though.
Presentation
One of the things I'm not sure whether I like or not, is the world of this movie. 31 years in the future, for the most part, looks a lot like it does in modern times, and I actually kinda liked that. It didn't stretch itself too far from reality and made the world more relatable. However, there were also moments where some areas looked like something out of I-Robot, with futuristic cities, hovercars and bikes, that whole thing. I don't think I outright hated it, but I just sort of wish they had gone with one style and stuck with it. For the rest of the movie though, the visual presentation is pretty solid. As for the soundtrack, I didn't really notice it. There were one or two good tracks in there, but for the most part, the movie was either silent, or the score was pretty forgettable.
Verdict
So in the end, I thought Looper was:
Great!!
The main cast is carried by some great performances, the movie was surprisingly engaging and managed to keep me guessing, something few movies can do, and it comes with some great action, some memorable scenes, and it's a well put together movie. However, the 2nd act is somewhat slow, the world isn't consistant, and the soundtrack is pretty forgettable. As a whole, though, Looper was a movie that I greatly enjoyed and will recommend watching. I will say that there is some mature content in there, but if you can accept that, then you should have absolutely no problem enjoying this movie. This movie surprised me, and in a good way.
So, have you seen Looper? What did you think? Was I too harsh or too leniant? Did I miss anything? Let me know.
You know, now that the Summer release season had closed and the huge releases had their time to shine, I was almost certain that the best had come and gone. What I did not expect was for this movie to come out of nowhere and grab my interest: Looper. It had a strong cast behind it and the previews got my attention, but new properties are always risky, as they can go either way. Especially when dealing with a plot that has to do with time travel, which tends to make things complicated as all hell. I was afraid that this would just be another generic sci-fi movie. Were my fears realized, or unneeded? I've watched it, and here's my review.
Keep in mind that this is MY review. Your opinion may very well differ from mine.
Story
It's the year 2044, and in 30 years, time travel will be created, and immediately made illegal. The only people who use it are large crime organizations that need to have someone killed with absolutely no evidence. So, they send that person to the past, where an executioner, known as a Looper, is waiting to kill and dispose of them. Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a Looper, living his days doing drugs and killing men sent from the future. However, on one job, Joe finds his future self in front of him (Bruce Willis). The older Joe takes his chance to escape, and Joe must hunt down his future self and kill him, while the older Joe has his own agenda he wishes to carry out.
I'll start by saying that there is a LOT more to the story of Looper than the ads lead you to believe, but for the sake of avoiding spoilers, I'll avoid telling you. What I can say is that Looper surprised me with its story. Rather than being what I expected, which was a typical cat-and-mouse sci-fi thriller, it turned out to be much more than that. One particular aspect that impressed me was how they dealt with the time travel aspect. One thing about time travel that's almost completely constant in media, is that when it's explained, it just opens up plothole after plothole that begins to eat away at the movie. In Looper, they literally say "How it works is not important in the slightest, so just forget about it," and they leave it at that. Ironically, that's probably the best description given to time travel I have heard in a while.
Another thing that impressed me was how much I did not see coming. There are quite a few genuine surprises in this movie, and one particular moment in the movie where my entire theater was dead silent, followed by them actually audibly going "Woah..." The characters are well done as well. Joe is, while undeniably selfish and kind of an ass, never crosses the line as to becoming unlikeable, and the older Joe is a character that you sympathize with and feel for, despite some of the things his situation forces him to do. I will, however, say that the second act of the movie moves relatively slowly, and while I wouldn't exactly say I lost interest, I did begin to get bored.
Acting
Okay, whether it's a good movie or a bad movie, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a damn good actor, plain and simple. As the lead role, Levitt easily carries this movie, serving as a reminder to why he is quickly becoming one of my favourite actors. Bruce Willis has a history of being a great actor, whether it's in just a typical action movie or something more than that. This movie being a sort of combo of the two, Willis brings out an awesome, emotional, and generally badass performance. There's a child actor in this movie too, and despite the fact that most child actors range from "Eh..." to "Dear God, why?" he does a pretty solid job. The rest of the supporting cast does a solid job as well, though there was a moment here and there when the acting slightly faultered. Those moments were few and far between, though.
Presentation
One of the things I'm not sure whether I like or not, is the world of this movie. 31 years in the future, for the most part, looks a lot like it does in modern times, and I actually kinda liked that. It didn't stretch itself too far from reality and made the world more relatable. However, there were also moments where some areas looked like something out of I-Robot, with futuristic cities, hovercars and bikes, that whole thing. I don't think I outright hated it, but I just sort of wish they had gone with one style and stuck with it. For the rest of the movie though, the visual presentation is pretty solid. As for the soundtrack, I didn't really notice it. There were one or two good tracks in there, but for the most part, the movie was either silent, or the score was pretty forgettable.
Verdict
So in the end, I thought Looper was:
Great!!
The main cast is carried by some great performances, the movie was surprisingly engaging and managed to keep me guessing, something few movies can do, and it comes with some great action, some memorable scenes, and it's a well put together movie. However, the 2nd act is somewhat slow, the world isn't consistant, and the soundtrack is pretty forgettable. As a whole, though, Looper was a movie that I greatly enjoyed and will recommend watching. I will say that there is some mature content in there, but if you can accept that, then you should have absolutely no problem enjoying this movie. This movie surprised me, and in a good way.
So, have you seen Looper? What did you think? Was I too harsh or too leniant? Did I miss anything? Let me know.
baylaust out.