Pleasant Past The Paradox

Lead man Joesph Gordon-Levitt

         In a year barren of sci-fi thrillers, Looper comes as a breath of fresh air. Originally opening the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, Looper was well received by critics and audiences alike. Set in the year 2074 time travel has been invented then promptly outlawed. Spurred by organised crime, a group of assassins have emerged, they are known as loopers. These loopers travel back in time to complete hits, hiding the bodies in the past. Then once their contract is set to expire, the looper is sent back to kill themselves, this is called closing the loop.

        The story follows Joe (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) a looper who is sent to close his own loop, but when it comes down to the wire he is unable to kill himself. Fearing the fact that his employers will come back and kill him themselves (consequently killing the older version of himself), Levitt seeks the older version of himself (played by Bruce Willis) to finish the job. Meanwhile Willis has his own agenda and seeks out to change his own future by killing and up and coming mobster who will be known as The Rainmaker to stop the hit from ever being called.

Bruce Willis plays the role of Joe's older self

As the story progresses more and more characters get added to the mix which further convolutes the plot and eventually the motive of Levitt is changed as he instead seeks out to protect the son of his lover (played by Emily Blunt) who happens to be a young version of the Rainmaker.

The movie deals with the concept of time travel in an elegant way this is particularly impressive as the intricacies of time travel are often muddled on film. However I must complain that nearing the climax of the film the resolution is paradoxical as if anything is changed characters won’t have the motives that warranted their respective actions. It is unfortunate that this is the case as it draws you out of the movie.

Looper was smart as a film (if not paradox free, but time travel can be tricky like that) and aestically looked pretty nice. The development of the setting in the future was well produced with many little cultural phenomena that made it seem realistic. Furthermore, the acting was great with Levitt and Willis acting their parts well. One minor complaint would have to be the some of the cosmetic choices. If you don’t know I mean let me direct you to the picture of Levitt as well as the transition from Levitt to Willis which was clunky to say the least.

A clumsy makeup choice costs film

If you are looking for a good character-based time travel film Looper is a good choice. Despite its flaws Looper made a good show of what the sci-fi genre can pull off.