Looper - Review

There can’t be much doubt that Rian Johnson simply isn’t used to this kind of fanfare. With his third film, after exceptional though oft-unseen debut Brick and warmly received The Brothers Bloom, one of Hollywood’s rising filmmakers blasts into the big time with the ambitious and meticulous Looper, blockbuster plot framing with the character based sensibilities of an indie flick.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is Joe, a mob hit man with a very specific remit. This is 2047, and time travel will soon be invented, meaning that Joe’s job is to stand in a field outside Kansas City waiting for an individual to arrive from the future, where he can promptly gun them down and dispose of the body. Technological advancements thirty years down the line have made corpse hiding virtually impossible, enabling our protagonist’s morally skewed profession.

There is a snag, of course, as the job is on a set contract; after thirty years have passed, an older version of said looper will arrive at the execution point, to meet the same fate as the other bagged and tagged victims. The inevitable occurs, when Old Joe (Bruce Willis) materializes. But this time things are different; he isn’t hooded or restrained, and is able to outsmart and over power his younger counterpart before escaping. Due to his time paradox inducing mistake, young Joe is now at the mercy of violent mob boss Abe (Jeff Daniels) and his goons, and has to track down and kill Old Joe before they get to him. 

But Old Joe isn’t content to simply sit things out; he has arrived in the past with a mission. In the future, a malevolent crime figure dubbed ‘The Rainmaker’ is wiping out all of the Loopers, and has already seen to his wife. He intends to find the Rainmaker’s infant-self and kill him. Naturally, young Joe must stop him, leading him to a farm housing single parent Sara (Emily Blunt), whose son is possibly the target. What follows is a mind bending, second-guessing chase thriller with plenty of shock twists.

One skill that Johnson has always seemed to possess is his ability to take a core element which, in the hands of a lesser scribe, would be a gimmick, and then run with it and birth a story of great depth and compelling quality. This comes to the fore in Looper, in which the time traveling future self angle isn’t the real focus of the plot or the film’s heart, but merely part of the set up delivering a far more human, intelligent tale. It creates plenty of fascinating situations and game changers, but ultimately serves as a means to an end. The basic framework may be high concept, but the fully fleshed narrative isn’t.

This is helped by Johnson’s superb screenplay, a witty and darkly humorous tome that toys with many of the common elements seen in time traveling stories but never plays them straight, avoiding lengthy conversations and digressional mind blowing theatrics. Certain set pieces, in particular a subplot involving Paul Dano’s fellow gunman and his own future variant, milks the plot maker for all its worth but does so in the interest of pitch black horror and entertainment, not indispensable machinations. Johnson exploits the time travel aspect, he isn’t a slave to it, and the care he has taken with the story is clear to see, with key elements introduced quickly and naturally to serve as well established Chekhov’s Guns that save on accusations of contrivance later down the line.

Showing the film’s pleasingly dysfunctional character, there’s a strong Western vibe that plays throughout, from the showdown at the farm set up to the sneering gun slinger mobsters and use of anachronistic weapons like pea shooters and blunderbusses. Joe may be an assassin for a crime syndicate, but is treated more like a rider for the local outlaws. This infusion of themes and nuances allows for a character driven, cynically logical execution of a fundamentally nebulous concept, showing Johnson’s cool and confident grasp on the material.

Beyond the filmmaker’s superlative handling, we have a film which technically is top class, such as the brilliant visual eye and attention to detail and Nathan Johnson’s excellently tone dictating score, minimalist yet atmospheric. Key scenes go without music and, framed brilliantly, conjure up a level of tension and unpredictability which have you scrambling forward on your seat. Scenes are edited together sharply, including one excellent sequence showing Joe’s life in China after earning his silver during the ‘present’ timeline, his fading from Gordon-Levitt into Willis.

This is another of the film’s glowing achievements. While Gordon-Levitt’s prosthetic make up may take a while to get used to, his performance as a younger version of Brucey is absolutely phenomenal, a subtle and well schooled interpretation and mannered impression (not impersonation) of the screen icon’s many mannerisms and inflections. Right from the opening narration, Gordon-Levitt has Willis’ speech patterns down to a key, an uncanny and spookily effective echo. That’s not to say that his turn is one long mimic, as the rising star is able to imbue the part with heart and honest characterization which makes him a compelling protagonist. The young actor has already described Looper as the best thing he’s worked on, and by extension it’s probably his best display to date.

Though he could just as easily play himself and coast through the film, Bruce Willis turns things up a notch and shows the acting smarts he possess which rarely shine through in more brainless fodder, bringing embittered and cynical fatalism to Old Joe reminiscent of his career best form in Twelve Monkeys. Strong performances from Emily Blunt, suitably unglamorous and conflicted here, and impressive child prodigy Pierce Gagnon as the mother and son duo bring much needed depth and complexity to an arc which on auto pilot would have aimed for sentimental exploitation. Gagnon in particular is funny and startlingly intelligent as young Cid, the best child performance seen on screen since Hunter McCracken in last year’s TheTree of Life.

While lazy generalizations and misleading blurbs may push you towards Pusher with the expectation of no holds barred sci-fi thrills, you will undoubtedly come out of Rian Johnson’s latest and greatest marveling at the sight of a filmmaker breathing life and smarts into a tired trend and ultimately putting forward a distinctive and memorable viewing experience that transcends various genres and cinematic niches. Intelligent while incredible, haughty but heartfelt, full throttle yet thoughtful; Looper is blockbuster filmmaking at its stylish, nuanced and spectacular best.

9/10