Superior Time Travelling Thrills

Rating: 8/10 (2 October 2012)

In the near future, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, suspiciously made up to resemble a young Bruce Willis, is living a grimy, hollow life as a low- grade hit man, offing mob targets pushed under his trigger from a further, time-travel enabled future, when who should show up at the wrong end of his cannon than... bugger me, it's Bruce Willis!
Take one dollop of Source Code, mix in some 12 Monkeys, add a dash of Terminator, and then serve with a somewhat unexpected side order of Stephen King-style paranormal chills, and you're some way towards concocting Rian Johnson's pacey and highly entertaining science-fiction adventure. JG-L is pretty impressive in the lead role, channelling a young John McClane in a leather jacket and ending up more than half-way James Dean, which is just about right for the noirish '50s undertones of the heavily narrated first act. What follows doesn't stand up to too much close analysis, but this really doesn't matter once the chase kicks off. Looper delivers solid thrills, without going overblown and losing focus on its engaging central characters. Not the smartest temporal tale out there, but terrific fun while it lasts. Note: Also features Jeff Daniels in beard.