The International Writers Magazine: Review

LOOPER In 2072, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent 30 years into the past, where a man with a blunderbuss awaits. Joe, raised in the slums and nurtured by the mob to kill without emotion, learns the mob wants to 'close the loop' by transporting back Joe's future self for termination.  He has to pull the trigger or else… Director/Writer: Rian Johnson Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano and Jeff Daniels • Sam Hawksmoor review

You don’t explain a movie like Looper or the plot.  It’s time- travel, it’s going to mess with your head anyways so just live with the moment, enjoy the ride. Don’t get too hung up on the anti-hero stuff, after all these guys are cold blooded killers we are supposed to care about and that’s wrong, right?  But we do, care.  Noses aside, Looper is the best Bruce Willis vehicle for years and reprises memories of him in Pulp Fiction (if only for the jacket).  Joe Gordon-Levitt is the star of the moment and he has him teamed with his old BRICK director Rian Johnson who knows just how to underplay him. It’s a canny pair of casting with Joe playing the younger Bruce and you can see him experimenting with the famous smirk.  Emily Blunt is great as the hot farmer Sara out in the fields and the film delivers a great punch with a dose of pop philosophy along the way.  Jeff Daniels plays a cynical world weary crime boss stuck in the past running the Loopers and wouldn’t we all like to know what the hell happens to France, and Paris in particular, in the future…

When young Joe and old Joe finally meet sparks fly and it never lets up. Dark, gripping, immoral and conflicted - this is exciting filmmaking. As thoughtful as The Butterfly Effect but with a lot of blood and guts. Without doubt the best Sci-Fi Film of the year and with luck a deserved box-office success.
© Sam Hawksmoor October 1st 2012
author of The Repossession and The Hunting

Share |

More reviews