Movie Review: Looper
Nov 22 2012.
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It’s very tough to pull off a good Sci-Fi movie let alone one that’s about time travel with all its paradoxes and complexities, but what I’ve always found is that the best Sci Fi movies not only focus on the science fiction aspect, but also have a very deep and moving human story behind them.
Recent Sci-Fi epics like Moon, Inception, Source Code and Sunshine come to mind. Looper definitely falls into this list and I would even go as far as to say is in a league of its own.
Firstly let me get the basics out of the way so I can deal with what makes this movie really special. The acting is top notch and this is expected considering that the leads are played by Joseph Gordon Levitt, Emily Blunt and Bruce Willis. The year is 2044 and the future seems bleak for humanity.
The movie is set in a rather dystopian future that is somehow very realistic and conceivable, considering the economic and social state the world is in right now. The basic plot, leaving out many of the complexities is that time travel is invented in 2074 and is outlawed because of its dangers.
But big crime syndicates use time travel illegally to commit assassinations by transporting their “hits” to the past to be killed, leaving no trace of the crime committed. The assassins from the past that do the actual dirty work are known as “Loopers”. Joseph Gordon Levitt who plays Joe Simmons is a Looper in 2044 and things get interesting when he is sent, himself to be killed from the future! What’s even more interesting is that JGL’s future version is played by Bruce Willis making for some really intense scenes between the two actors.
They say god is in the details, and it’s amazing to see how they had practically reconstructed Joseph Gordon Levitt’s face to make it look like a younger version of Bruce Willis.
It’s clear that the premise of the plot is quite unique, but now let’s get into what makes this movie something truly different and fresh. The movie is a great commentary on what motivates us as people. It asks rather boldly whether all humans are driven by selfish motives. Many ultra-rationalist thinkers believe that we are.
They believe that every single action we take is to advance our own selfish gains, and this movie in many ways criticizes this world view. Every single character in it is driven by selfish motives and the movie does a great job at making us feel really uncomfortable watching their selfishly driven actions.
After sitting through some really cringing moments where the apparent hero of the story commits quite a few atrocious actions, the ending really turns everything around exemplifying the ideal of selflessness and at the same time dealing a blow to that ultra-rationalist world view.
But Looper goes beyond this and also makes you think, what would you do if you were placed in a similar situation? Looper constantly keeps you on your toes by making you ask your-self this fundamental philosophical question throughout the movie.
There are moments where the movie could have easily become another mindless Sci-Fi action movie with big explosions and fighting sequences but the story as well the director manages to save it from becoming just another block buster popcorn flick and delivers something absolutely original. A definite must watch. Looper gets 9 out of 10.
By Maleen Jayasuriya
Looper (2012)
Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller
In 2074, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent 30 years into the past, where a hired gun awaits. Someone like Joe, who one day learns the mob wants to 'close the loop' by transporting back Joe's future self.
Director: Rian Johnson
Writer: Rian Johnson
Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kGFyVKmqA0
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