In the year 2074, organized crime
has become much more sophisticated. This
is due in large part to the invention of time travel, which is almost instantly
outlawed due to its propensity for misuse.
It proves quite a handy tool for carrying out hits and disposing of
corpses. Various mafias employ it too
just such nefarious ends. Intended
targets are sent 30 years into the past, where a hitman known as a looper lies
in wait. The looper than takes out the
target and gets rid of the body. The
loopers ask no questions, they simply follow orders and are paid handsomely in
return.
Eventually, the day comes when
each looper is expected to kill their future selves, thus “closing the loop.” One
such looper is Joseph “Joe” Simmons (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). However, when the time comes to close his own
loop, Joe hesitates, along his 55 year-old self (Bruce Willis) to escape. This not only voids Joe’s contract with the crime
syndicate, but makes him a marked man. He
hopes to save face by tracking down his older self, but this proves much easier
said than done.
Looper is the third feature film from writer/director Rian Johnson. It’s a sci-fi actioner that involves the concept
of time travel. That puts it squarely in
the same genre as films such as The
Terminator or 12 Monkeys. Though it shares some obvious similarities
with those films, Looper is very much
its own animal. It not only contemplates
plot intricacies and paradoxes, but how such things affect the characters on a
human level.
Looper takes place in a future world, but much of the production
design suggests the American Old West. The
story takes place in Kansas City, which has a suitably futuristic skyline. Take a closer look, and the details begin to
emerge. The Mecca rests in the middle of
a veritable no man’s land, like a frontier town hidden in the desert. Those who higher on the economic food chain can
afford hover bikes that look like steampunk choppers. Professional criminals carry large, powerful
six-shooters like cowboys. The loopers
themselves carry a futuristic variation of the old blunderbuss flintlocks. This retro fantasy world is the kind of
future that George Lucas has always championed. It looks and feels used.
As with any western, the plot of Looper facilitates an inevitable
showdown between a good guy and a bad guy.
The twist here is that both the antagonist and protagonist is actually
the same person. The hero is fighting
himself in the literal sense. That little
conceit opens up a number of tantalizing possibilities that Looper is only too glad to explore. That kind of thematic brevity is a big part
of its appeal, yet the film also has a sense of restraint. It leaves enough to the imagination to keep
truly thoughtful viewers engaged.
The central conflict is allowed
to evolve as the narrative progresses, as are the characters themselves. Unlike so many other films of its type, Looper isn’t just empty spectacle. The
characters are allowed to have actual arcs that go beyond mere plot resolution. They are morally complex, occupying different
ends of the moral spectrum at different times in the narrative. Even their most deplorable actions can be
understood if not condoned. No matter
how complex the plot or elaborate the set pieces, Looper never forgets what it’s actually about, and that is a
blessing.
One of the many joys of the
screenplay is how Rian Johnson subverts the tropes of various genres. Looper
is equal parts time travel yarn, western, and superhero movie. Those hidden identities gradually, and are
handled in a number of unusual ways.
The cast is simply great. Bruce Willis looks less like the scrappy
action hero of his younger days, and more like a grizzled shell of his former
self. He’s tougher, more world weary. His appearance, coupled with the story’s
context, gives his screen persona added weight this time out. Levitt, with the help of some very subtle
makeup, looks like the younger Bruce Willis that might’ve existed in some
alternate reality. He successfully
mimics the mannerisms of his costar, yet his performance is much more than an
impersonation. Both versions of Joe seem
like the same person, but at very different points in life. Child actor Pierce Gagnon is not the usual
precocious type. As Sid, He turns in a
performance so creepy and effective that he often seems like a grown man in a
child’s body. As Sara, Emily Blunt is a
more complex version of Sarah Conner as depicted in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
Looper is a masterpiece, bar none.
It represents a new level of sophistication for a sub-genre that already
has its fair share of notable classics.
It’s everything that the best kinds of blockbusters should be,
straddling the line between pulpy fun and thought provoking art. It doesn’t achieve that feat through
gimmickry, but through great writing, acting, and direction. I doubt that a better time travel flick will
emerge for quite some time.
No comments:
Post a Comment