Looper (2012)

The story of young assassin (Looper) is ridiculous on it's face so turning it into a tale of existential ennui changed the whole film for me. Once I totally bought into the premise I was totally rewarded by one of the best Bruce Willis actioners ever that owes more to the 12 Monkeys side of his career than the Die Hard one.

A smart script with lean voice overs that fill in the little details we need to flesh the story. I enjoyed the look of this slice of a near future dystopian world.

I liked how the time travel angle was played. Using time travel in any story is always tricky but this one had just enough rules to make everything play out like it should have or shouldn't have depending on your point of view.

 

All of the little touches and twists makes this one a winner because they create a universe and a situation with it's own internal logic and rules and never betrays those rules. Like, The Adjustment Bureau (which also starred Emily Blunt - (above) you feel like some outside force is trying to manipulate the lives of man and this glitch in the system is something that will either break the system or be destroyed as a manner of course.

 

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is becoming an action star of the first order and his last three movies had him moving and jumping and riding like it was the end of his life. This one is no different. The relationship between him and Willis, the older, smarter, deadlier and more practical version of himself is interesting to watch. It's a fresh twist on the 'buddy pic'.

Bruce brings a level of credibility and class to this kind of genre entertainment. It's a different kind of role for him that plays to all the reasons we love watching Bruce Willis movies in the first place.

It was fun seeing the little quirks of Bruce Willis show up in Levitt's performance. Willis' sly smile and sorrowful eyes are perfectly replicated.

Jeff Daniels in a neat addition as an old mentor who himself has come from the future to run the whole assassination business and is the one hunting both Willises or is it Willisii?



I enjoyed how the movie doesn't give me all the answers and makes me work a bit to figure everything out. It felt good to have my intelligence appreciated. This one turned out to be a fine addition to the list of my favorite time travel action/dramas.