Looper Review

Written by Tyler Lamb.

Looper is the newest movie from writer/director Rian Johnson (Brick, The Brothers Bloom) starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer, The Dark Knight Rises), Bruce Willis (Die Hard, Sixth Sense) and Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada, The Adjustment Bureau). The movie takes place in Kansas in the year 2044. 30 years from then time travel is illegal and getting rid of a body when you kill someone is almost impossible to do. When the mob needs someone killed they send them into the past where someone called a looper will be there waiting to kill and dispose of the body. When the mob wants to end their contract with the looper they send back the loopers future self to dispose of, closing the loop. This movie follows one specific looper named Joe (Gordon-Levitt/Bruce Willis).

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From the trailers of this movie most people would assume that it is about how Joe has to kill his future self but can’t go through with it and he gets away so he has to chase him down. However, this is hardly what the plot is at all. There is so much more that goes into this movie and what it’s about that the trailers, although doing a great job with hyping it up, do not really do it justice. There are basically two stories woven into this movie and they are delivered brilliantly. There was not a single moment where I was left scratching my head or wondering what was happening or how something happened. Given the fact that working with time travel in a story can lead to some messy plot-holes and confusing devices, it is amazing how Rian Johnson was able to avoid anything like that. Everything in the end comes full circle and will have you leaving the theater completely satisfied.

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Everyone seemed to bring his or her A-game with this movie. Gordon-Levitt and Willis did great acting off each other. What’s even more amazing is how Gordon-Levitt acts and does things similar to how Willis acts in his movies. There are many similar mannerisms and even speaking patterns that help convince you that his character is a younger version of Willis’ character. The make-up done on Gordon-Levitt also helps convince this. Child actor Pierce Gagnon had the most surprising role. It’s always a risk to have a young kid act in a movie, but Gagnon brought one of the best performances from a child that I have seen in a long time.

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Overall, this is one of the best science fiction movies, and movies in general, I have seen in a while. There is nothing about Looper that I can find myself wanting to complain about. It delivered on every front and exceeded expectations. It is the epitome of what a movie going experience should be. What I’m getting at is, go see this movie. Now.

I give this film:

 

out of 4

Director-Rian Johnson

Starring-Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt

Runtime-118min

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