In and Out of the Loop

Rating: 7/10 (2 October 2012)

This film is recommended.
The fundamental things apply as time goes by and by and by in the intriguing futuristic sci-fi fantasy known as Looper. It has strong special effects, a well-constructed script, and a cast of actors who spring into action whenever needed. The film doesn't always stay on course, but it usually piques one's interest with its intelligent screenplay.
The year is 2074, but we almost immediately loop back to the past, circa 2044. That year is the drop-off point of human recycling as the mob uses their hit-men to take out its human garbage, leaving no evidence of any murders in their present day dimension. This is time- travel with an evil twist as we meet one of a group of specialized assassins known as loopers: Joe ( Joseph Gordon-Levitt ) is ready to dispatch another transported victim. The body count of his victims grows as does his reputation and his wages. One slight glitch in the life of any looper: The job has a short shelf life, and every looper will automatically be forced into retirement. There will be a day in their future where the looper will be hired to execute himself, that is, an older prototype of himself. And that day eventually arrives when Joe discovers his designated target is a 30 year older version of himself ( Bruce Willis ). To kill or not to kill? The cat and mouse chase begins.
Director / writer Rian Johnson takes his clever premise and keeps his mind games in motion throughout most of his film until he begins to introduce some sub-plots and characters that become close reminders of other sci-fi predecessors, particularly the plot line to The Terminator mixed with an old Twilight Zone episode starring a young Billy Mumy. Until that point, the film is a fresh and original diversion. At the midway point, it begins to lose some of its energy.
Still, the lead actors have enough chemistry between them to fully engage the movie-going audience with enough action and thought-provoking situations, even if the film, begins to lose interest in their initial relationship taking them on separate paths to solve their dilemmas and adding some unnecessary complications in the process.
It is the actors' relationship that makes Looper more fascinating than it really is. In fact, Gordon-Levitt wears some prosthetic make-up throughout the film to resemble some of Willis' physical traits. The actor also imitates some of his quirks and line delivery to try to make a direct connection to his older character. It's an interesting concept and works most of the time. ( The make-up, however, does not always succeed and, in some scenes, becomes a distraction, with Gordon-Levitt not even resembling the character he is playing. His facial appearance seems overworked and unintentionally disconcerting in a few key scenes, but even then, the make-up, at least, looks real. ) Willis plays on his strength as the sage action hero with very few words to impart, but he handles his guns well. His quieter scenes actually show off his range as one of our more underrated actors.
Both Emily Blunt who plays Sara, a tough survivor type with a temperamental tyke at her side and Jeff Daniels as Abe, a notorious mob boss who enjoys his menace and his power, give ample support and use their acting skills to breathe some depth into their stereotypical roles of good and evil.
So Looper is a relatively entertaining movie that tries to deal with larger issues like changing one's own destiny or the effect of time continuum relationships, but ultimately, Looper seems more comfortable just being a solid action flix, sacrificing its sci-fi origins in exchange for shoot-em-up thrills, leaving the film's more absorbing prospects lost somewhere in time. GRADE: B
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