Looper: Movie Review

"Looper" is stunning to say the least. Most importantly, it was able to transform the icky subject of time travel and made it concise, understandable and without the usual loopholes that are accompanied with it. It is truly breathtaking to actually see and hear time travel concepts that are simple enough and yet deep with its repercussions. If you ask us, that in itself is an amazing feat but couple the time travel aspect with great acting, fast-paced action and a conclusion that truly encapsulates what "Looper" dares to accomplish - this is one of the best, thought-provoking scifi film to come out in years.    

It is 2044 and time travel has yet to be invented. Thrity years from now, in 2074, it will be but is immediately outlawed. It doesn't stop crime syndicates in the future to use time travel underground to dispose off dead bodies. They have employed "Loopers" in 2044 - assassins which does the killing for them once the person is transported back in time.  If the crime syndicates wants to end their contract with their looper, they send his old self back in time and the Looper himself kills his older self. This is called "closing the loop" and would gain the Looper a significant reward. Joe Simmons (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is one of these loopers. Recently, he has noticed that the frequency of loopers "closing the loop" has increased dramatically. When one of his friends fails to kill his older self, he discovers that the future crime syndicates are being wiped out by someone nicknamed Rainmaker and has ordered the closing of all loops. Everything gets worse when Joe himself fails to close his loop when old Joe (Bruce Willis) escapes from his clutches.

"Looper" may not just turn out to be the best scifi film to come out this year but it may not be far off to be considered as one of the quintessential films when it comes to time travel. "Looper" is able to create its own stigma of what time travel is and what repercussions it has on the present and the future. It delivers it in a simple, straight-forward fashion that vaguely hides the intricacies of the subject matter. At first it may seem that nothing really happens when you go back in time but things soon ramp up to a point that thoughts and memories even change on the fly. But by the time that things do get a little complicated, "Looper" has already massages you into its concepts that even a hint of confusion will be non-existent. One of our favorite scene is   when young and old Joe meet in a bar. More details and concepts are revealed but the scene also provides some humor and action between the two. The acting was superbly done with Joseph-Gordon Levitt eerily resembling Bruce Willis at times. The only thing we didn't buy is the love story aspect. It seems out of place with its feel of just being inserted into the plot rather than being part of it. Overall, "Looper" may not feel epic but what it does it more than just that. It may just change what people expect from a scifi film.

Rating: 4.5 reels

Why you should watch it:
- the time travel aspect was done perfectly without the usual complications and hiccups
- the acting was superb

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the love story aspect feels amiss