Saving an inevitable future is intriguing...

Rating: 7/10 (1 November 2012)

The crime lords of the future have discovered a new method of eliminating their victims. Time travel, although banned in that future, is used to send someone back by 30 years where a hired assassin shoots him at the designated place and time. These assassins are 'Loopers' and their job pays them a lot of silver bars. Occasionally, the mob will decide to close the loop in order to secure itself, which means that the Looper will be sent his future self as a target. Sometimes, the shock of seeing his future self is enough to distract the Looper and before he knows it, he has lost his target and now the mob has a bounty on his head.
Joe (joseph Gordon Levitt) is one such Looper whose future self refuses to get shot upon arrival on the present day. With the closure of his loop in jeopardy, Joe makes a run for it to explore the possibilities of himself and his future self to co-exist at the same time. He finds shelter in a farmhouse where Sara and her son Sid live. Older Joe (Bruce Willis) lost his wife to the attacking mob men who were directed by the Rainmaker. He manages to escape to the intriguing time and place in front of his Looper self in the past. While his escape puts the lives of both the Joes in jeopardy, they are individually determined to survive and find a way to co-exist in the same period. But older Joe's vengeful plan is to seek out the child who will grow up to be the Rainmaker, the one responsible for his wife's death and prevent the tragedy by killing him. Both the Joes are at the crossroads of this plot while the threat of the mob finding them is ever lurking.
Bruce Willis has been in similar shoes before. Intriguing stories and calmly aggressive characters are not new to him and he pulls off being Joe quite comfortably. Although, we would have preferred to see more of him in Looper. That's also because Joseph Gordon-Levitt is not a convincing lead actor. His calmness more often tends to portray boredom. His range of emotions, stature, dialogue delivery fall short of what it needs to be of a leading man; especially when his older self is Bruce Willis. That perhaps is the most disappointing feature of Looper. Emily Blunt as Sara, does a fine job of depicting varied emotions, appears protective as well as aggressive with an aura of being vulnerable at the same time. She also does a great job with her country accent that certainly de-glamorizes her.
From kinetic powers to time travel, director Rian Johnson adds scientific elements to make the plot even more intriguing than it already was. The shocking revelation at the end isn't completely unexpected but yet leaves us reeling for the conclusion. Avoiding dramatic and lengthy character focused scenes, Johnson sticks to the screenplay that just keeps the story moving on to the next chapter However, there are parts when we haven't seen older Joe for almost 30 mins while his focus on young Joe and Sara's relationship does seem to drag. A little more of Bruce Willis' older Joe would've added some powerful acting and dialogue to an otherwise dull and weak performance by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He failed to impress in the shoes of Commissioner Gordon's chosen aide in 'The Dark Knight Rises' and now, Looper. It is yet, an intriguing watch and an interesting take on time travel's utility. It questions the sympathetic human mind on one hand with the desire to save your loved one on the other. When an inevitable future that will turn bad is being made in front of you, how can you change its direction? The Looper will have to take a decisive shot.

7.63 on a scale of 1-10.