A smart time-travel caper with brilliant performances, complex characters, realistic romances and a finely judged dose of black humour, Rian Johnson’s Looper isn’t just one of the best films of the year. It is one of the best sci-fi flicks in recent memory.
In the not-too-distant future, mobsters defy time-travel regulations to send their enemies 30 years back in time, where trained “loopers” are waiting to execute them. The moniker comes from the cyclical nature of the hit-men’s work. After years of well-rewarded service, they too will be sent back in time to be killed by their younger self, thus “closing the loop.”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Joe, a cynical looper who, faced with killing his older self (Bruce Willis), uncharacteristically hesitates long enough for Willis to escape. What follows is an intriguing, brilliantly conceived chase, as the two Joes grapple with their opposing aims. Levitt needs to kill Willis to avoid the lethal wrath of his employers. Willis has a violent agenda of his own and yet also needs to protect Levitt in order to protect himself.
As the tension-filled plot slowly and beautifully unfurls, Johnson’s script balances accessible action schlock with conceptual loftiness. The existential theme is rendered even darker with some magnificently macabre details, such as scar tissue appearing on Willis’ body any time Levitt is injured. This idea is used to terrifying effect. The older version of another looper (Paul Dano) watches his limbs disappear as his younger self is sadistically tortured off-screen.
The two leads are superb. Levitt, acting through some initially disconcerting prosthetics, captures Willis’ trademark mannerisms. This gives a lovely continuity to the character. Levitt’s romance with the wonderful Emily Blunt likewise proves engaging and complex. In a nice defiance of expectation, it is Willis who provides the tender and emotional anchor for the character. Flash-forwards show how Joe grew and developed from an arrogant youngster into a mature man who has experienced both deep love and great loss.
Full of intelligence, wit and emotion, Looper will undoubtedly cement a very bright future for Johnson.