Strong Message Was Enough to Make Me Overlook Numerous Plot Weaknesses

Rating: 8/10 (10 February 2013)

This time travel sci-fi thriller is one of those movies that instantly begins to unravel if you start pulling at its plot strings, but if you're willing to just accept certain things as presented without questioning them too much, it provides a lot of entertainment and a welcome message about the role strong parenting can play in helping children navigate the journey into adulthood.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is one of the best young actors currently working, and he gives a terrific performance here even under heaps of makeup designed to make him look like a young Bruce Willis. Willis is the adult version come back from the future to be bumped off by himself, in some strange system of hit men established and run by a mysterious crime lord living in a near-future world. Why on earth the system would have people sent back to be killed by themselves in the first place is only one of the first wonky plot devices that it's best not to think too hard about. The wrinkle in this particular plan is that Gordon-Levitt can't kill himself, his older self gets away, and Gordon-Levitt must track him down before he kills the child who will grow up to become the aforementioned crime lord who will ultimately be responsible for his (Willis's, and by extension, Gordon-Levitt's) death and the death of his beloved future wife. Are you following?
If not, don't worry. It all makes sense, or mostly does, while watching the movie. The best storyline in the film is that of Emily Blunt's, who plays the mother of the kid who will turn into the evil crime lord responsible for the bleakness of the future world. It's her character that understands the need to intervene as a parent and that with strong guidance someone who might have tendencies to turn into something bad need not necessarily take that path. Gordon-Levitt's character comes to that realization too, and takes action to stop the endless cycle of violence and destruction that this looping system has created. The ending provides an emotional payoff that makes the grimness and violence of what precedes it worth sitting through.
A strong film for its genre.
Grade: A-