Review 180: Looper

Looper is an astonishing sci-fi, action film and one of the most thought-provoking, complex and brutal sci fi films in recent years,

In a futuristic ganglan in the year 2044, a 25-year-old killer named Joseph Simmons (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) works for a mafia company in Kansas City as a "Looper." Loopers kill and dispose of agents sent by their employers from corporate headquarters in Shanghai from the year  2077. Loopers are foot soldiers, paid on the terms that all targets must never escape. When Simmons recognizes his target as a future version of himself (Bruce Willis), his older self escapes after incapacitating him. The resulting failure of his job causes his employers to come after him, forcing him to fight for his life as he hunts his older self.

The plot is a work of genius,
it deals with themes such as time travel (cool stuff) death and how small changes to the past can change our future.

and it gets you thinking the whole time your watching, Rian Johnson has a brilliant mind

Rian Johnson's directing is precise and taut, the cinematography is beautiful and captures the glistening, stylish look of 2044 that the film is going for. The scenery is gorgeous, the production design (creating Kansas City in 2044) is fantastically imaginative, the score by Nathan Johnson (director Rian Johnson's cousin) is catchy, the pacing is rip roaring and never slows down, the special effects are spectacular, the costume design is majestic, the make up is rich, the action scenes are thrilling, brutal and well choreographed, the props are beautifully crafted and the twist ending was superb.

The acting is top notch, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt & Bruce Willis are superb in this film.
In particular, Gordon-Levitt and Willis' performances as the different versions of Joe are truly captivating, not just because they're essentially both playing the same character but
Both of them are trained killers, both of them are flawed protagonists,

Willis, most notably, playing the older Joe. He's almost Terminator like in his body language and facial expressions. He's cold, ruthless and unrelenting.

Jeff Daniels, Piper Perabo & Paul Dano round out the cast.

Looper is a smart, vicious-and one of the most thought provoking sci films along with Inception to come out in recent years, 4.5/5.

The Anonymous Critic