Going into “Looper” I was expecting a typical Bruce Willis shoot’em up hardcore action flick that was reminiscent of his “Die Hard” movies. Instead I got a film that, at least in the first fifteen minutes, was giving me flashbacks to the confusion I felt when I first viewed “Inception.” The plot is chaotic in the beginning to say the least, but was a necessary evil in order to set the scene of this complex movie.
Loopers are trained assassins in the year 2044 that do the dirty work of gangs 30 years in the future where disposing a body is nearly impossible. To achieve this, gangs use time travel to teleport their victims back to the loopers to be crudely killed. Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a typical looper that enjoys the easy money, fast cars, and even faster women associated with the looper lifestyle. However, in the future a new power is rising, a mysterious crime lord known only as, “The Rainmaker,” and is closing the loops. Closing the loops is where the looper is forced to kill his future self because gangs in the future do not want any loose ends. The looper then receives a payout in gold that is supposed to last him for the next thirty years of his now abbreviated life. However, things get messy when Joe’s time comes to close his loop and future Joe (Bruce Willis) escapes his assassination and ventures out into the past with a series of motives.
Are you following me? Don’t worry, the plot may seem mindboggling at first, and verging on philosophical, hypothetical and any other confusing five-syllable word you can think of. However, there is a learner’s curve, and as the movie progresses it becomes more understandable. “Looper” will leave you saying “hmmm” as in quietly amused pondering, rather than “HUH?!” As in what the @#$% just happened.
One thing that does leave the audience saying “what the @%$#?!” was Gordon-Levitt’s nose. I was wondering what kind of horrific futuristic accident could have happened to the poor guy for him to need such poorly rendered facial reconstructive surgery. Did he violently fall off a hover-bike? Surely, I thought, this will be addressed later in the movie. But when the horrible accident scene that disfigured Joe’s face never comes to fruition, it suddenly dawned on me. They were trying to make it look like he had Bruce Willis’ nose! It did indeed look exactly like Bruce Willis’ nose, but it was over-established, appearing almost to be animated, and was a distraction that detracted from the movie and its storyline.
That truly is my only complaint. The acting tag team of Willis and Gordon-Levitt was stellar as expected. The plot, though dark and twisted, is intriguing and engaging. In addition, the ending is so unexpected and profound, that if you spoil it you should have your loop closed. Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s nose aside, this is a fantastic movie, and is truly worth your viewing.
