'Looper' is an action/thriller set in the future about time travel. In 2044 there are people called Loopers who kill people sent back in time by the mob from the more distant future. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Young Joe a Looper who is put in a position to kill himself, Old Joe played by Bruce Willis, but fails and Old Joe escapes. The mob comes after both Joe's because of this failure. The movie doesn't really deal with alternate time lines, paradoxes, or any of the other interesting/fun stuff associated with time travel. For a movie that claims to be about time travel there is very little of it in the film. The first half of the film seems to about one thing but half way through takes a sharp turn about something totally different. Because of this the plot is disjointed and relatively unsatisfying. Levitt and Willis do decent turns as each other but the script doesn't give them much to do.
There are a few great moments particularly a montage where Levitt ages and becomes Willis. But mostly the film deliberately avoids it's own major plot device. Willis says at one point "I don't want to talk about time travel!" In that case, why am I watching? We are left with a lot of holes, a lot of unanswered questions, and a lot of missed opportunities.
As a futuristic time travel adventure the movie fails miserably. As a run of the mill summer action movie it succeeds.
Rent It.
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