Review: Looper

Review: Looper

I really wanted this movie to be good.

Following The Dark Knight Rises and Premium Rush, Joseph Gordon-Levitt's golden year rounds itself off with Looper, an engaging sci-fi thriller with rivers of style but an unfortunate drought of substance. 

Sadly, Looper finds itself at the back of the line in terms of the quality of his movies this year, as even Gordon-Levitt's superb performance opposite Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt can't save the story from tanking down a lane of clichés and characters so paper thin you can practically see them flapping in the breeze.

Don't get me wrong, Looper is enjoyable to a certain degree, but it's never quite a fully rounded loop (ooft). The first 45 minutes or so are absolutely genius, however it soon becomes clear that the trailers have been horribly misleading about the core plot of the film, as instead of a cat and mouse chase between Gordon-Levitt's younger Joe and Willis's older Joe, we have a ripped off story about a man from the future attempting to assassinate a child who will one day grow to be a notorious killer. Arnie must be fuming.

Before this list of clichés is ticked off though, we follow the story of Joseph Simmons (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a "Looper". Loopers kill and dispose of targets sent back in time by their employers in the year 2072, therefore removing all evidence of the murder in the future - the only rule is to never, EVER, let the target escape. Joseph enjoys his life, reaping the rewards of his easy job with wealth, flash cars and pleasurable company dominating his existence. That is until the day when he recognises one of his targets as his future self (Bruce Willis), who escapes after overpowering him. The failure of this job causes his employers to go after him, leaving Joseph only one choice - kill his future self, or be killed.

It's after this point that the plot begins to sag. A key scene, one which was presumed to be a highlight of the film, is where young and old Joe sit together in a diner discussing their predicament. "Why don't you just do what old men do and die?" grins young Joe. "Why don't you take your little shooter out from between your legs and give it your best shot...boy?" retorts Willis's older Joe. Unfortunately, that's really the only decent back and forth between the actors. 

Throughout the film, they never feel as though as they are portraying one person at different time periods in their life. If they had more screentime together perhaps the connection would be stronger, yet even though Joseph Gordon-Levitt completely nails the mannerisms, tone and cocky attitude of your average Bruce Willis character, it really feels as though these are two completely different people who just happen to have the same name. Their characterization is not fleshed out enough to deflect this negative aspect, and the narrative deflates into an overly familiar bad guy vs. even worse guy progression (with some interference from a few unwelcome third parties).

As for Emily Blunt, her portrayal of Sara, the single mother of the apparently apocalyptic child with bizarre telekinetic abilities, is very wooden. The British actress fails to hit a convincingly consistent American accent, particularly in the emotionally heavy scenes involving her son's future. The boy in question is played rather badly too, and his story becomes frustratingly boring. Looper has been billed as a man vs. himself story, however we have been misled and this child's tale of woe soon takes over the main narrative. Yawn.

The setting of the movie is also a little puzzling, as one minute we are following Joe's life in the midst of this futuristic city; the next, he is suddenly in the middle of who knows where and the city has vanished from sight as he bumps into Blunt's character, meets his future self at a small out-of-town diner and disposes of his targets. How is he getting there on foot so quickly?

Plus, while we're dissecting the plotholes of Looper, why does the criminal organisation allow such space for mistakes by letting the "Loopers" dispose of their future selves? The margin for error is enormous, as one "Looper" displays early on when his future self is zapped back from the future to be assassinated. However, he sings a song from his childhood invoking a fear of death into the younger man who then refuses to kill his older counterpart. Why not have one "Looper" dispose of another future "Looper", thus removing the emotional connection and the potential disaster?

Summary

Overall then, Looper has unfortunately dropped from its predicted pedestal of "the most exciting, original movie of the year" to the most disappointing. To break it down simply:

The good: Joseph Gordon-Levitt looks, acts and talks the part, providing an easily comfortable performance that really shows off his acting chops. In various scenes, Bruce Willis's trademark smirk and his cocky attitude really shine through Gordon-Levitt's mannerisms, making us believe we are looking at a young acting legend. As for Willis, despite his hyped role amounting to little more than a supporting part, his Looper character is possibly the most emotionally engaging role he has played for a very long time. His action scenes are very few, however when he is let loose we have the usual thrill of watching the veteran actor have fun.

The bad: A misleading premise that suggests the film will be much more exciting than it actually is, some very wooden acting from supporting parts, a bucket full of plotholes and a script full of clichés. Despite Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis giving it their all, the two share very few scenes which is a horrifically missed opportunity, and even their superb talent can't save Looper from becoming a been-there-done-that, predictable bore. Don't even get me started on the ending.

Blame the script or blame the over-ambition of the movie, but after the first thrilling 45 minutes, Looper simply fails to deliver the intense, action-packed sci-fi that we were promised. Terminator 2 much?

5/10 - Mediocre

See it if you liked: Terminator 2 (1991), Back to the Future (1985), The Butterfly Effect (2004)