Looper

As I sit and stare at my computer screen, I am only certain of one thing: Looper is the most difficult movie to review this year. My head is still swimming with thoughts, theories, and wonders from this absolutely unique science fiction movie. Two of the best sci-fi films of the past five years have come out in 2012, and Looper stands alongside Prometheus as one of them. Part Terminator, part Blade Runner, and part Minority Report, Looper is a heady time traveling science fiction film that doesn't get bogged down in the details. Bruce Willis is his John McClane/ Butch Coolidge self, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt continues to make his case for the title of "new Leonardo DiCaprio", starring in what seems like his 5th or 6th great role in a row (The Dark Knight Rises, Inception, (500) Days of Summer). Simply put, Looper is great science fiction, and in a year without The Dark Knight Rises it would be a heavy contender for best movie of the year.

In the future, time travel exists. In 2044, time travel does not yet exist, but it is known that it will exist in thirty years. Future organized crime syndicates use a very unique form of taking out their enemies, by sending them back in time and having the bodies disposed of by a "looper". A "looper" quickly disposes of their target, dumps the body, and gets paid. When the mob is done using you as a looper, they "close your loop", sending back your future self to be disposed of... by you. When Joe (Gordon-Levitt) sees his future self (Willis) come back in time to have the loop closed, he hesitates, and now his older self is on the run. This is bad news for Joe, who will have to answer to his boss Abe (played wonderfully by Jeff Daniels), and try to find old Joe before things get too complicated.

As with any time travel movie, your head is going to hurt with inconsistencies. Looper does a good job of staying away from the details and focuses on the greater story. Any time travel movie is going to break down the harder you look at it, no matter how hard you try to close up plot holes. The Terminator, Back to the Future, and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban are just a few examples of great movies dealing with time travel that have troublesome plot points. There is a reason why time travel doesn't exist, and why it never can exist (at least I think it won't). It's a concept that is outside of our understanding of humans, paradoxical at every turn. For a movie that deals so heavily with time travel elements, Looper does a good job of not letting the little inconsistencies get in the way. In fact, the time travel works quite well. A particularly impressive scene is in the first 20 minutes, when one of Joe's friends has to "close the loop", and his future self gets away. I won't spoil anything, but it is one of the most visually unique scenes I have seen in a long time.

Looper makes you guess at its protagonist the whole way. Several characters seem to be the "hero", but constantly do things to the contrary. Once it seems like you've figured out who to root for, the script is flipped. Movies without a central protagonist can run into some major problems (I'm looking directly at you Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace), but as Looper unfolds, it does so almost like a mystery, and the changes in character drive are what keeps it engaging.

Joe eventually runs into Sara (Emily Blunt) and her son Cid (Pierce Gagnon), and this is where the movie starts to pick up. Joe's character is given some depth, and the story is further exposed. But the most impressive thing is the acting by Gagnon, the child playing Cid. I was blown away by how well this small child, no older than 8 by my estimation, could convey subtleties and emotion as well as any kid actor since Haley Joel Osment. Child actors can be very dangerous because, with rare exceptions, they are mostly terrible. A movie can be brought down by an annoying kid (you better believe that had the rest of Terminator 2: Judgment Day not been so awesome, there would be waaaay more complaining than there already is about Edward Furlong's John Connor), but here Gagnon is so great as Cid, nothing is taken away from the experience.

Looper has lots of cool futuristic action scenes, and the ones that are the most fun involve Bruce Willis. This guy is an all time great action hero for a reason, and he shows no signs of slowing down. His cool look, the snide comments, they all find their place in Looper. JGL certainly holds his own in his scenes with Willis, and one scene early in the film in a diner is particularly impressive. Since they are playing the same character, just at different times, it's an intriguing dynamic. JGL wears some almost unnoticeable makeup to make him look more Willis-ish, making their scenes together even more believable. It's a funny concept to even think about, having a conversation with your younger self. Old Joe chastises his younger self for being such a selfish idiot, and I think that every person would want that chance. I know that I would most certainly tell a thing or two to 16 year old Drew.

Looper went in a totally opposite direction than I thought it would, in a very good way. Instead of playing out like a run of the mill "revolt against the system" action movie, Looper has many genuine surprises in store. Get to a theater, pay the outrageous ticket price, pull out your smuggled in Skittles, and enjoy one of the year's best!

4.5/5