Hard on the outside, soft on the inside

Rating: 6/10 (21 October 2012)

Saw this last night. Surprisingly violent but also thought provoking. Much darker than The Matrix (a film with which it has been compared). Not in the same league stylistically, but grittier, more visceral.
I wouldn't take the sci-fi time travel stuff too seriously. It is a conceit to examine the idea of nature versus nurture, how love and insight (or the lack of it) can influence the direction of our lives.
Bruce Willis should be commended for looking age directly in the face and dealing with it head on.
There were some great little twists and riffs on the time travel theme - the idea that physical or mental alterations to the younger looper ripple through the older looper - very nice.
However, the story isn't as original as people are saying. This film bears more than a passing resemblance to a short story by Jerome Bixby called "It's a Good Life" (a short story that also appeared in the movie adaptation of The Twilight Zone in 1983).