LOOPER DVD (2012)

SYNOPSIS: In the futuristic action thriller Looper, time travel will be invented - but it will be illegal and only available on the black market. When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they will send their target 30 years into the past where a 'looper' - a hired gun, like Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) - is waiting to mop up. Joe is getting rich and life is good - until the day the mob decides to 'close the loop,' sending back Joe's future self (Bruce Willis) for assassination. 

MOVIE REVIEW:

I don't want to talk about time travel because if we start talking about it then we're going to be here all day talking about it, making diagrams with straws – Old Joe

How true. To really appreciate a movie liked “Looper”, you need not worry about the incomprehensible time travel logic that are discussed instead just allow yourself to be absorb into the world of loopers as conjured by writer-director Rian Johnson.  

The year is 2044, Joe Simmons (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a looper (or assassin as commonly known) working for a crime syndicate that is run by Abe (Jeff Daniels). Their job is to dispose anyone who is sent from the future because time travel although outlawed has been invented 30 years later. The catch is if the crime syndicate wants to silence the looper, they will send their future self to the past for the looper to kill him so as to close the loop. The looper is given bars of gold as a form of compensation and lives out his life for another 30 years. And Joe finds himself looking at his future self, Old Joe (Bruce Willis) when he accepts a job one day. But Old Joe has plans of his own; he wants to escape the killing and restart the time loop hopefully to rescue the woman he loved.

Fret not if you are feeling a bit wozzy now. Take a panadol or two as Johnson is just warming up. Things start to get more complex with the introduction of a woman, Sara Rollins (Emily Blunt) who lives on a farm with her son, Cid. Young Joe who is on the run from Old Joe and the syndicate realises an evil crime lord who has overtaken all organized crime and has been closing all the loops in the future might be linked to Sara and Sid after all.

Johnson’s direction and smartly-written script is both intriguing and surprising. For a start, Johnson makes good use of the limited budget on hand to create an almost dystopian future decked in retro-futuristic styles. The sets might be a bit sparse at times but you realized it’s not that crucial when the storytelling is far more ambitious. The latter is more of a make or break when telekinetic powers are introduced later on in the story. It’s truly stunning when the revelation came but I can’t help feeling the part about telekinetic powers is too gimmicky compared to Johnson’s clever concepts of time logic and travel. The frequent gunplay is violent but not excessively grotesque unless you include the killing of Joe’s friend, Seth (Paul Dano in a short cameo).  

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has the creative license to mimic Willis since he is playing the younger self, equipped with facial prosthetics and recognisable Willis’ trademarks expression, watching Levitt for the whole duration is a blast. Take note especially of the scene when Young Joe is having a conversation with Abe and also the diner scene where the Old and Young Joe is conversing. Emily Blunt provides the eye candy and the young kid who played Cid, Pierce Gagnon is a remarkable talent to watch out for.   

The ever generous Hollywood provides audience with one smart sci-fi thriller a year and the winner goes to writer-director Rian Johnson’s “Looper” for 2012. The year before was “Source Code” and “Inception” in 2010 in my opinion. Far more accessible than Terry Gilliam’s time-travel tale, “12 Monkeys” (which also stars Willis) and resemble a bit of the original “Terminator”, “Looper” is a sci-fi actioner worth catching if you survive the challenging first act. If not, you can always time-travel back to the first frame and watched again.     

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

Audio reproduction is decent but not impressive. Dialog is clear while the sequences involving gunshots and moving vehicles are constraint by the provided soundtrack. Visual is satisfying but several night scenes look murkier than usual.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee