Incredibly crafted, mind-bending thriller

Rating: 10/10 (9 February 2013)

This was my favourite film of 2012. It is a gripping sci-fi thriller, with superb performances and carefully crafted plot that keeps you guessing right until the mind-blowing climax, and yet retains a real warmth and humanity. Essentially it isn't about the special effects and mind- bending notions of time travel. It asks a fundamental question: is evil inherent? And if it isn't, what would you do to stop it appearing?
The pace is incredible, with the intricately woven plot carefully unfolded piece by piece so that we are continually surprised, but never confused. Rian Johnson gives the age old notion of time travel new life by introducing innovative ideas such as torturing a young Paul Dano in order to torment his fugitive future self.
Add to this an array of pitch-perfect performances and you're on to a winner. I'll admit that Joseph-Gordon Levitt makes a visually unconvincing young Bruce Willis, in spite of the painstaking prosthetics (which I found pretty distracting), but no one can deny that he gives a cracking performance as Joe the Looper - a hit man hired to bump off the enemies of the 'bad guys' who are sent back from the future. Bruce himself does what he does best, while Emily Blunt gives the performance of her career as a guilt-ridden young mother determined to do right by her son. Pierce Gagnon is terrifyingly convincing as Blunt's son Cid, displaying a maturity far beyond his years with a performance that rivals Haley Joel Osment in Sixth Sense.
People who want to pick holes in the theory and logistics of time-travel are missing the point of this film. I found the explanations utterly believable, but what really got to me were the characters and performances. It is a taught, intelligent piece of film-making in which every element is perfectly crafted so as to enhance the whole without drawing attention to itself.