Looper

 Director Rian Johnson has directed two films, being his tremendous breakout crime thriller “Brick” and the great con-man movie “The Brothers Bloom”.  In both films Johnson has given us something we are familiar with in film, solving a murder, and coning the rich out of money.  Then twisting it a little to make it fun and interesting.  In his latest film “Looper” he gives us a genre we are all familiar with since H.G. Wells made it popular.  Time Travel.  And he makes it his own.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt who is amazing as the lead in Johnson’s first film “Brick” is Joe a hired killer whose job is simple in the year 2044.  Gangsters from the future where time travel is invented and illegal send guys to get wacked back in time where Joe and his fellow Looper’s are waiting to shot-gun blast them and dispose of the body and collect their silver.  No mess for the future if the body is in the past.  But the kink in Joe’s perfect lifestyle is that their loop can be closed, meaning they can send you your future-self back to get killed by you.  This is what happens to Joe, when his older-self is sent back to be killed.  Bruce Willis plays the old Joe and gets away from Levitt and has a plan to keep the future that has played out for him for the last 30 years.  He will not let anything get in his way, including himself.

If all of this sounds a little confusing, don’t worry, you will be enjoying the movie way too much to notice any flaws in the time logic.  Rian Johnson has crafted a fantastic futuristic tale that perfectly blends sci-fi, drama, action, humor, and an awesome moral dilemma that I have never seen played out on film before, and the dude totally nails it.  Wills hasn’t been this solid in a while and Levitt coming off of “Dark Knight Rises”, “Premium Rush” and the soon to be released “Lincoln” is phenomenal in both his performance and his transformation into a young Bruce Willis.  The makeup helps and only has moments where is mildly distracts.  But his mannerisms and little ‘Willis’ quirks sell it throughout the film.

Aside from the great story and fascinating concepts the supporting cast is stellar, Jeff Daniels as the future boss in the past, works really well, Emily Blunt is flawless, and the new comer Pierce Gagnon as Cid is amazing.  It really feels like nothing is wasted and that Johnson is saying something with every frame, I hope this movie brings more people to his work and I’m glad that after the summer we’ve had that there are still reasons to go to the movies.  In short, go see “Looper” it is one of the best movies of the year.

 

--Robert L. Castillo