2012 time travel movie
Rating: 12/20
Plot: There's time travel in 2074, but it's only used by the mob. They send people who need to be disposed of back 40 years so that the titular assassins can take them out and incinerate the bodies. Apparently, it's impossible to get rid of a body in 2074. The loopers are paid handsomely, especially when they have to kill their own older selves. Joe faces a problem when his older self doesn't really want to be killed and instead wants to run around 2034 looking for some kid who's going to turn out to be an evil warlord or something.
I might give this movie a higher rating if somebody can convince me that it makes any sense. Time travel movies are tricky anyway, and they require you to suspend your disbelief in order to enjoy the things. The makers of Looper seem to realize that and just assume that you're going to let things slide and not think too much because it's all very entertaining. "Shut up and let us entertain you!" the movie seems to say. But I'm not sure this makes any sense, and the more I think about it, the more the apparent paradoxes annoy me. It's kind of a cool premise. But does the premise even make sense? Why couldn't they kill a person in 2074 and just send back a dead person to be incinerated? And why pull guns on people--especially the ex-loopers--in the future if the victims know they would prefer not to use the guns? This all builds to the exact climax I predicted as soon as Bruce Willis darted off in 2034 even though writer Rian Johnson tried to use a little postmodern trick to throw me off. The whole thing just gave me a headache even though there were things I liked about it. Gorden-Levitt is pretty good even though I do think he's a little too pretty and reminds me of plastic for some reason. But I like how you can see the Bruce Willis in him. Some of that's special effects, I guess, but he also nails the mannerisms and the voice. The whole thing where Bruce Willis--the future Joe--is angry at his younger self seems authentic. I mean, who doesn't look back at his younger self and get a little pissed off? The plot really toys with your emotions, making you wonder just who is the good guy and who is the bad guy. You struggle with which Joe to root for which makes sense, I guess, since they're actually the same person. I liked Jeff Daniels as Abe, and a scene where a guy is losing fingers, a nose, and eventually limbs is very well done. That's the kind of imaginative stuff that works in time travel movies. Unfortunately, this breaks apart when you dive in brain first and can't survive its paradoxical storytelling. And it morphs into a big dumb action movie by the end. I was happy to know that there are still hobos in the future though.
Another question: Why did they have the loopers kill themselves? Couldn't that create all sorts of problems? Wouldn't it be easier to have another looper take care of business? See, I keep thinking of these sorts of questions.
Much better time travel movies: Timecrimes and Time after Time.
I liked this much more than you and it probably was because I just went with it...which is kind of unlike me. That's probably because I liked that it was trying to be interesting, and the performances across the board were excellent. You mention Daniels, who is always great, but everyone else is perfect in their roles as well, especially the little boy. His is one of the best child performances I have seen (love the scene with the "Raising Hope" dad). "Looper" looks cool, tries to be different, and has several great scenes that I won't forget. I didn't see the end coming, and even if I had I would have loved what they did. A 17, for me, and it is one of my favorite movies from last year. I will say that I saw it in a theatre, and that always helps.
ReplyDeleteSo it doesn't make any sense?
ReplyDeleteThis is one of those that I wanted to like more than I liked. Sometimes, I think back on movies like that and forgive them for their flaws. Maybe that'll happen with 'Looper'...
Try 'Timecrimes' on for size sometime. It's on Netflix and I think it's worth your time.
Heh. I just read my 'Timecrimes' write-up and did for it (turned my brain off and just enjoyed it) what I couldn't do for this. Double standard! Maybe I'm less willing to do that for Hollywood flicks?
ReplyDeleteI will put "Timecrimes" on my queue. Hopefully it has better luck than "Tampopo".
ReplyDelete