A consistent grower with an aborted ending

Rating: 8/10 (4 November 2012)

"Looper" is a movie that convinces from several points of view.
It has a rather intriguing science-fiction story line that is quite well used in here and not over-employed. This means that the film is still down to earth and doesn't include too many technical details or other stuff. If you want this kind of film, you should watch Star Trek.
The film includes a lot of moral questioning and provokes many philosophical thoughts of what is right and wrong.
The story itself is not too complicated but filled with tension to keep you on the edge of your seat until the end.
The acting is very solid in this film and especially Bruce Willis plays one of his best roles in the last years and not only the superficial die hard guy with sick humour that he usually incarnates.
The film is filled with a few great action scenes and a couple of stunning special effects but they are very decently used as the main focus remains on the acting and the story.
The movie has also a few shocking moments you wouldn't expect that give especially the character incarnated by Bruce Willis a lot of depth.
Overall, there is not much wrong with this movie but there are still a couple of things I've disliked about it.
As this movie is mostly free from the usual stereotypes, it is sad that one stereotype had to be included in this which is a love story towards the second half of the film that adds nothing at all to the main plot and seems only to be included to follow the norms and please a larger crowd.
Another critical point is the ending that is quite controversial. Some people adored it, others literally hated it. I disliked the ending but not that much because of its content but because it comes very abrupt. The tension raises continuously in the film and when you fell ready for a stunning showdown, the whole thing gets suddenly aborted which left me a little bit frustrated after all. I'm somewhat hoping for a director's cut or additional scenes when this will be released on DVD and BluRay but I'm not sure if this may ever happen.
In the end, the positive points are though way more numerous than the negative aspects of this film. The movie is not a masterpiece but clearly one of the best cinema flicks of the year. This one here is definitely worth a watch for anyone who likes Hollywood cinema.
By the way, it's a quite refreshing idea to see Bruce Willis' character retiring from his dangerous job to get into the big city life of Shanghai where he ends up with a tough Chinese lady that somewhat transmits an irresistible charm. These few scenes made me laugh a lot and had a very sympathetic touch in my humble opinion.