“Looper” is a Sci-Fi thriller that doesn’t insult its audience with ridiculous “splosions” or trite characters. There is a theme about abandoned children growing up to be lost and twisted adults reminded me of some sort of Peter Pan or Pinocchio story gone horribly awry with time traveling gunmen, drugs and hookers. Which is how Pinocchio should have been written in the first place.
Well, okay, there are one or two bad characters — but it doesn’t hold it back.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as Joe the hired killer — taking out the trash for organized crime in the future’s past (still our future) using time travel as a way of hiding the dead bodies. Then you have Bruce Willis as Old Joe, the same Joe from the future’s future… Okay. The plot is a little thick. Suffice to say that the plot has original elements that keep it from being stale right out of the gate.
Levitt’s and Willis’ make-up as well as Levitt’s performance were remarkable. The characters themselves are intriguing. There isn’t a real “good guy” in this one. Just a bunch of bad people trying to get ahead or innocents trying to protect themselves. The anti-heroes may make questionable choices but are possessed of actual understandable (and plausible!) motivations.
Yes! I know! This is exciting!
This rendition of a clearly dark future is suffering from civil and economic woes with rampant crime and a bulging homeless population. It is reminiscent of the film “Blade Runner” in that the setting is very dark and evokes a noir feel — even if it isn’t lit that way.
Little details make the world seem believable. We don’t get hit over the head with the future. The art director even did a good job of using “old cars” (our new cars) and making them look run down. It’s a cinematic rule that little things like this help suspend disbelief.
Grade: A