It's okay, but feels half-baked

Rating: 6/10 (13 October 2012)

Looper isn't a bad film, but not a great film. Rian Johnson (writer/director) lives in the indie realm, and the film reflects that, even though he's suddenly got a lot of cash to spend. It's got an interesting idea, but somehow doesn't gather enough steam. There are heaps of minor plot-holes (as you'd expect with an ambitious sci-fi film). Overall I felt it was a low-budget film that got a whole bunch of funding.
Some parts were ingenious, but others felt cheap. Like using killers who seemed to be more like wild teenagers than killers. I guess that was supposed to show the depravity of the youth of the day, but it lacked gravitas. I can see the appeal of the idea, but it felt faked.
Or that Bruce Willis (**spoilers**) decides to go killing kiddies, but the audience isn't really shown the emotion that drives that decision. Yes, you see the wife get shot, yes there's mention of some future killer, but it's not enough to mention it. You have to show it. And the script doesn't.
The story also doesn't show just how bad the "Rainmaker's" reign of terror is. This is important because when the Rainmaker is shown to be a child, the juxtaposition would have been much more dramatic.
And adding the fact that Bruce Willis bringing zero emotion to the role doesn't help much either.
To summarise, I was mildly disappointed. To be fair, it was okay, and nice to see an intelligent sci-fi film (especially after the insult that was the Total Recall remake), but I just didn't find it tight enough narrative or plot-wise. And Joseph Goron-Levitt looked weird and plasticky. 6 out of 10.