Looper

LOOPER

Director : Rian Johnson

Year : 2012

Genre : Science Fiction

Rating : ***1/2

We are currently experiencing a great trend in cinema at the moment, that of the intelligent and thought-provoking blockbuster which subvert the usual conventions of boring, cliched narratives and bland, characterisations which have become the standard of the usual Hollywood fodder. Filmmakers are finally taking an interest in producing scripts and plots which challenge audiences, while at the same time being entertaining and engrossing. Of course, Christopher Nolan could possibly be seen as the father of this modern trend, creating films such as the challenging 'Inception' or even his hugely successful 'Dark Knight' trilogy, which re-established the adolescent superhero genre and reinvigorated it with a mature arthouse aesthetic, complete with unconventional plot devices and multiple narrative strings which are not usually seen in multi - million dollar productions. Following the release of 'Inception', audiences started to take notice of these idea-laden films and soon they became high hitters at both the box office and at awards time, such as Darren Aronofsky's twisted and distressing 'Black Swan'. Taking it's ideas from the giallo movies of the 1970's and the films of horror maestro Dario Argento, the movie was a big winner at the 2010 Academy Awards ceremony and earned Natalie Portman her first Oscar for best actress. I can't imagine that five years ago, the cinema going public would have taken to such a heavy and dark movie,  having to have endured the huge number of generic and conventional blockbusters that had swamped multiplexes across the world through the decade. Now in 2013, I am very happy to see this trend continue with 'Looper', Rian Johnson's time bending, mind scrambling epic, which is full of ideas regarding the loss of humanity, the self -destructive nature of nostalgia and the past and current thoughts about capital punishment.

In the future time travel has been invented. To get rid of bodies, gangsters have the oppurtunity of sending their victims back in time, where a hitman called a looper will be waiting for them. They are immediately shot in the head and theoretically erased from history. However, while the job pays high, loopers know that they have to eventually 'close their loop', meaning that they have to kill their future selves. After a future looper comes back and evades being shot by his younger self, both men have to try and avoid being killed by the other before they are both taken out by other loopers and removed from both the present and the future.

Rian Johnson capably directs the action and suspense, showing the same kinetic energy and vivazz that made 'Brick' such an entertaining watch nearly a decade earlier. His trademark camera work and punchy dialogue all help to give 'Looper' an urgency and apprehension which drives the movie forward and distracts from the frankly ridiculous premise and the muddled time conundrums which do prove to be the biggest faults in the film. Unlike Duncan Jones' highly underated 'Source Code' which uses a similar repitition of time but in a completely understandable and logical way, 'Looper' does lose track of it's laws of time and soon jumbles itself up in it's own ideas. The more I think about 'Source Code', the more I think, 'Ah yes, that works and that works', whereas with Looper' I think, 'Hang on, that doesn't fit with this storyline and that time shift doesn't work with the narrative thread', and so on. However, for the duration of 'Looper', I was completely engrossed and it wasn't until the end of the film that the huge, gaping plot holes and inconcievabilities of the breaking of the time continuum came to light. The film moves at such a quick pace and is so full of narrative strings and plot devices that I didn't have time to even think about these issues.

The cast are universally brilliant. The almost unrecognisable Joseph Gordon Levitt is perfectly cast as a man having to face both his past and his future simultaneously as well as the implications of the job that he is doing and Bruce Willis is great as a man having to choose between the love of his life and the possibility of erasing himself from the world to save her.  The supporting cast which includes Emily Blunt, Jeff Daniels and Paul Dano is also very good. There have been many cases in recent movie history where special effects have tried to digitally age or completely change the appearance of an actor. The most obvious example is used in David Fincher's 'Forrest Gump'-esque 'The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button' in which Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett are made to look 13 to mid 70's. However, to me, the effects used were very distracting and completely overtook the tone and the plot of the film which was in itself plodding and tiresome. Whereas with 'Looper', the effects which made Levitt look like Willis were so well done that they blended into the film seamlessly and just added to the aesthetics of the film without being distracting or overpowering.

One particularly impressive aspect of the story of 'Looper' is the way in which the portrayal of merciless killings and the effect that it has on the murderer is handled. In a world where overactive gun use and senseless murders are commonplace, it is interesting to see a film in which characters are more than willing to kill others for large amounts of money, but are terrified of the prospect of having to shoot themselves in the future. 'Looper' shows the true nature of being human and how even the cruellest people have an inbred sense of self - preservation and that they will gladly hurt or even kill others to save themselves. The job that the loopers has chosen is a cowards one and only those with no empathy or respect for human life could do what they do. This is perfectly shown in Paul Dano's character, who refuses to kill his future self when it is presented to him. He would risk imprisonment or even death, just so that he can live a few minutes longer and 'Looper' shows us that even a cold blooded killer has something to be afraid of.... pain and suffering.

While there is much to admire about 'Looper', the plot holes and convoluted time laws really do add up to more negatives than positives. Don't get me wrong, it is an entertaining and engrossing movie and one that should be definetly seen by science fiction and action fans alike. It could be compared to movies such as the 'Terminator' franchise or even in some respects 'The Matrix' For me myself as a science fiction, 'Looper' is a mixed bag of a film, full of good ideas and interesting plot developments which subvert the general conventions of the genre. But in the end, the movie ties itself up too much and by the the thrilling climax, becomes almost incoherent and makes the entire movie seem jumbled, confusing and overwritten.