Well-moulded time travel flick

Rating: 8/10 (16 December 2012)

IT has been a while since we've seen a time travel movie, and even longer since we've seen a good one. In the year 2074, when the Mob wants to "take care" of somebody, the target is sent 30 years back in the past, where a stylish hired gun, known as a "looper", waits to pull the trigger. Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a looper making his way through the ropes, is one day hit with a huge surprise when his future self, older Joe (Bruce Willis), is sent back to catch a bullet in the chest. Older Joe escapes and it is now up to Joe to track him down, kill him and make it right with the Mob. You know this much from watching the trailer, and to be honest, this is about a quarter of the plot. The time travel aspect of the movie is also handled really well, where it is explained but kept vague, and actually gets the audience thinking throughout the movie. The future in the year 2044 is portrayed well in the movie. Cars don't fly, but there are bikes that hover along the ground, people ingest drugs through eye drops, they are paid in silver and gold bars: just subtle differences without your average expectations of the future. It starts off sleek and smart with a strong pace, but kind of fades in the middle. However, this really isn't such a bad thing. It gives time for characters to mature, for their backstories to unfold and their relationships to build. If you were looking for big action shoot-outs and trucks exploding, you might be disappointed. The action scenes are good, with a few shoot-outs and a chase here and there, but ultimately, it is the plot, dialogue and stand-out acting (particularly by Gordon-Levitt) that really drives Looper. There is also a strong female character in Sara, played by Emily Blunt, who isn't too hard on the eyes. Without spoiling anything, Looper goes in directions audiences wouldn't expect. It is a futurist movie, and if you want to enjoy it to the fullest, you have to let yourself be taken over by the science fiction aspect. This could have been a simple premise where "good guy" has to track down and kill "bad guy", but the plot has layers. It has themes of cause and effect and dives deeper than your average popcorn-munching CGI fest.