Entertaining time travel scifi

Rating: 7/10 (8 June 2013)

Director R.Johnson brings another good addition to the sci-fi scene with Looper. Rather coincidentally the film is released in almost yearly continuum with other solid sci-fi films such as Inception (2010) and Source Code (2011). It is good times for the sci-fi film fans.
I was somewhat concerned initially with Looper's cliché-ish time travel plot as most of these films tend to implode on their own absurdity. Adding to my negative expectation was the fact that the one of the main actors is no other than Bruce Willis whose last sci-fi undertaking Surrogates (2009) left much to desire.
Thankfully my negative preconceptions were quickly dissolved as Looper kicks up the gear right from the start and wastes no time with lengthy introductions. In no time the viewer is plunged into the dystopic future where criminals send their victims back in time to be executed and thus leaving no evidence behind. The story follows one of these futuristic executioners Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) whose execution routine is disrupted when his older himself (Bruce Willis) from the future appears in front of him to be executed.
The story can be a bit hard to grasp initially and requires some processing, but after the initial confusion dissipates the film becomes thought invoking and rewarding.
To me the director did a great job keeping the film together and quite easily approachable despite its complexity. It also helps that the film is well balanced between action, suspense and intriguing story elements to maintain interest factor high through the film.
As much as I liked Looper and its intelligent sci-fi scheme, it cannot be overlooked that the film has quite a profound change around half way into the film which might act as a deal breaker for some. Where the first part can be considered relatively easy going and light in mood despite the occasional violence, the second part is quite the opposite. The seriousness level is tuned up considerably in latter part with B.Willis struggling with his conscience about terminating children to save his wife and the appearance of a raging prophet child is also quite heavy to digest. Personally I appreciated the change of tone as it brought more depth to the film, but can understand that it is not everybody's cup of tea.
Lastly as the script is based on Time Travel there are bound to be lots of plot holes, but if one can tolerate/ignore them, Looper offers a very entertaining couple hours.