Looper (2012) [Blu-ray]
Action | Crime | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline: Hunted by your future. Haunted by your past.
Tagline: This job doesn't tend to attract the most forward-thinking people.

In the futuristic action thriller Looper, time travel will be invented - but it will be illegal and only available on the black market. When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they will send their target 30 years into the past where a "looper" - a hired gun, like Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) - is waiting to mop up. Joe is getting rich and life is good - until the day the mob decides to "close the loop," sending back Joe's future self (Bruce Willis) for assassination. The film is written and directed by Rian Johnson and also stars Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, and Jeff Daniels.

Storyline: In the year 2044, a man working for a group of killers called "Loopers" (they work for the mob and kill people who are sent blindfolded back in time from the year 2074 by their bosses) recognizes a victim as himself. He hesitates resulting in the escape of his older self. Written by malachmcfreak

Storyline: In the year 2044, time travel has yet to be invented. But in 2074, it's very much a reality, and it's brought about a booming underground business for those living thirty years back. The technology -- and the use of it -- has been made instantly illegal in 2074, but like most such laws on the books, only the law-abiding are deterred from engaging in the illegal activity. Criminals make frequent use of the technology to dispose of those who stand in the way of their illegal enterprises. In 2044, young men known as "Loopers" are paid handsomely in pure silver bars to assassinate targets sent backwards in time to them. They dispose of the bodies in a world in which the victim doesn't exist, collect their funds, and await their next target. There's only one catch: Loopers must kill their future selves. They are paid handsomely to do so and are given thirty years from retirement to enjoy their wealth, usually abroad. Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is one of the best Loopers around. He's professional and efficient, unafraid of carrying out the task, and unworried about his future prospects. When a fellow Looper allows his future-self to run, Joe hides him, temporarily, but turns him in to his boss Abe (Jeff Daniels) in exchange for keeping his stash of silver intact. But when Joe's own future self (Bruce Willis) escapes the younger Joe's murder attempt, both Joe's become targets. Meanwhile, the younger Joe is made aware of a future individual known as "The Rainmaker," a hardened criminal wreaking havoc on future events. Now, Joe must track down the younger Rainmaker while also dealing with his escaped elder self and evading Abe's deadly "Gat Men."Written by Martin Liebman

Editor's Note: There's a good moment in Looper in which Bruce Willis' character tells Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character that, basically, any discussion of time travel would invariably become too far drawn out, too complicated, and would eventually lead to some big, futile production using straws as a demonstrative tool, supposedly in an effort to show skews in the timeline, illustrate alternate realities, and so on and so forth. Instead of grasping at straws, however Looper takes the bull by the horns and gives audiences a novel, exciting, and well-scripted film that deals with all sorts of classic and innovative time travel scenarios and paradoxes and makes them both easy to understand and worthy of thought. Looper is also visually appealing, well acted, and supported by robust action. The film hits hard, looks great, and bring a genuine freshness, a real bit of innovation, to one of fiction's most fascinating storytelling devices. It gets philosophical and endlessly thought-provoking without coming across as snobbish, too complex, or in any way losing track of its Action movie origins. Looper is one of the surprise films of 2012, a highly enjoyable experience that's smart and never short on action.

User Comment: janus-20 from United Kingdom, 29 September 2012 • I would have thought it doubtful that anyone could have anything new to add to the sci-fi sub category of time travel movies. After watching Looper yesterday, i'm happy to report that Rian Johnson has removed those doubts and given me hope that sci-fi in Hollywood can be more than just empty spectacle.

First off i would say, don't get discouraged from watching the film if you think its going to be too complex or difficult to follow. To follow the story and recognise characters motivations does require a little concentration, but not to the point that you wont enjoy the action beats and other more visceral elements.

The story is well constructed, information and plot points are presented at an entertaining and well judged pace. There are some nice little throw away visual references and metaphors which, if you catch them, add a nice texture to the story and stop it feeling too clinical in its plotting.

The script is tight, hard edged and very dry in its humour, the actors are fantastic. I think its fair to say that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is well on his way to being "one to watch", Bruce Willis pops back to life here, clearly enjoying himself again, (although i wouldn't say this is solely a Bruce Willis movie in that definition).

This is a brilliant movie experience, its an wholly original and entertaining idea, that the writer/director has managed to successfully transpose to film without, it would appear to a layman, pressure or interference from external sources.

No matter how much of a good time you will have watching this film (and you will), Hollywood could stand to learn much more from it.

Summary: Very clever, very original and very welcome.

[CSW] -3.2- I agree with the Netflix reviewer who said "Okay, I'm going to disagree with everyone who's claiming what a smart movie this is. It's a fun ride, well-acted and decently directed, but any brains it has are barely skin deep. And if that sort of mixed metaphor bothers you, so will this movie. Criminals in the future have time travel and the best thing they can think of to do with it is dispose of dead bodies? And on top of that we're subjected to the usual trope of people fading out of reality because of a change in their past, yet we're not supposed to concern ourselves with time travel or paradoxes and just focus on the "character driven" story. Go in with some popcorn and enjoy the dance, but if this is your idea of brainy science fiction, you obviously only watch movies and don't read books." -- So this became a once-is-enough movie for me and I will not be adding it to my collection, but do go and see it for yourself as you might disagree.
[V4.5-A5.0] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box motion codes were available at the time of this rental although they are available now.

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