Looper - surprisingly tedious SF

Rating: 4/10 (16 October 2012)

I like SF, I like Bruce Willis (5 Monkeys was greatly enjoyed), and I can suspend disbelief for time-travel. So how come Looper was so tedious? (Seriously, I nearly left the cinema). I had been looking forward to this film for months. The whole concept of going back in time to be assassinated, and one day the assassin having to kill himself (they seemed to be all men) is most interesting. What is not interesting is long slow shots of people we are supposed to feel for and be interested in when they are most unenjoyable and cruel, heartless people. I didn't expect The Matrix, I did want some tension, not just people bursting in and shooting. For farmhouse tension see Inglorious Basterds, not the lame Looper. For SF gun-play, The Matrix, not cutaway 'oh-look-at-the dead-bodies' Looper (certificate 15 effect?). Even the characters in The Island were more approachable and easier to feel for. Most of the time, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, holds the Willis smirk - yet in this film, Willis never does! It could have been anyone instead of BW. The bad guys are neither menacing nor effective , mostly canon fodder, and the portrayal of the future (before time-travel) is pretty lame. This film is big on emotion, caring about family, but it just doesn't come across as believable. And, as for the ending, completely unbelievable. It is a 'nice' and 'good' ending, but since the characters are professional murderers it beggars belief. This film was written for Redford and Streep. With tighter editing it could have been so much more.