Time travel films are a divisive sub genre of science
fiction, for people who refuse to accept that it is impossible (I am not
arguing that fact here), they come in sceptical and quick to point out it’s
flaws and gaps in the logic. The other group will wait till see what the
filmmakers are doing with the time travel device before they make a judgment
and their interest and enthusiasm goes one of two ways. Time travel and the
basic idea of it, in my opinion is best used when the characters are forced to
make difficult moral decisions when faced with a freedom to change something,
which luckily Looper has, as an
integral part of it’s plot.
The basic plot of the film is that Joe (Joseph
Gordon-Levitt) is a Looper a killer who works for a mob that exists 30 years in
a future, so that when they want someone killed, they send him back in time for
Joe to kill. But when Old Joe (Bruce Willis) is sent back from the future, Joe
hesitates, allowing his older self to escape and cause havoc with his future.
Two of the biggest strengths of the film are the two lead performances,
especially from the two main characters, Joe and Old Joe, played by Joseph
Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis. Gordon-Levitt throughout the film wears, what I
assume is some kind of facial prosthetic, so that he looks more like Willis,
his jaw and nose are altered the most and it does create a buyable if somewhat
jarring, at least initially, visual effect.
As they both play the same character, but at different
points in their lives and with different personalities, it is important that
they appear as the same character and it’s a tribute to the way that both
actors imitate the others facial ticks and mannerisms. In young Joe we get an
arrogance that the life he leads now won’t end and that all he wants to do is
look after himself. But in old Joe, we get a man who has been changed, by what
I won’t say, and is now more in tune with the world, has learned some humility
and is willing to sacrifice himself for something he cares deeply enough about.
We see more of young Joe throughout the film, as old Joe
only cuts through the film at certain points as he does what he came to do.
This was a good decision by writer/director Rian Johnson, as it is young Joe
who has the films main arc to carry, which begins with him being one of the
best Loopers, to him ending up (a vast amount of the second half takes place
here) on a farm with single mum Sara (Emily Blunt) and her son Cid. I won’t go
into details about the second half, as it really is best to go and watch it and
experience it for yourself.
As with all time travel stories there may be a paradox in
their somewhere, which could ruin the story for you if you actively look it out
and want to, but in Looper the rules which the world sets itself, for my at
least, actively discourage you from looking for a hole, or even thinking that
there is hole in the logic. There may be one or two in there, but they won’t
affect your viewing of the film.
The look of Looper
is one of it’s biggest strengths, the future (young Joe’s world) is not the
clean and crisp version of the world that is sometimes portrayed, nor is it the
all out dystopia that seems to be the other option. In this future, we haven’t
that far on from where we are now, the only difference in the city is that people
are still driving cars we drive now and living in the same kind of run down
homes that populate most cities. Basically, if you don’t have money you are
being left behind. Outside of the city, on Sara’s farm, you would be unable to
tell the difference from then to today, bar the odd piece of machinery that is
surely only a few years away from us today. This is certainly a world that is
believable especially given that it is only 30 years away at this point, it’s
not as depressing as Blade Runners Los
Angeles, but it is on it’s way.
Looper is
beautifully shot, the city’s look crowded and overbearing, whereas the
outskirts and farm look warm and comforting, and obvious escape from what the
characters know goes on there. The camera is kept secure and the shot expertly
composed, we see everything we should and never in jumpy disorientating
shakiness that some recent films have used. Cinematographer Steve Yedlin, who
has worked with Johnson on all three films, deserves much of the praise for
making the films camera work engaging yet never drawing attention to the
flashier moments, instead bringing them together with a style that feels fluid
once editor Bob Duscay has gotten his hands on it.
Rian Johnson guides us through a story that could have been
very confusing with a calm and understandable style, much like Christopher
Nolan did with Inception or Duncan
Jones (and writer Ben Ripley) with Source
Code, giving us a complex idea, but trusting enough that audience will be
able to follow the plot and be interested enough to engage and invest in the
characters. Johnson certainly has a big future ahead of him if he keeps
producing the quality of films that he has so far.
Looper is the kind
of sci-fi we don’t get a lot of now, intelligent and full of ideas, so go and
see it regardless of how you feel about time travel. Films like this need to be
supported, as they don’t come around to often. It is definitely worthy of your
time.
