Time travel is invented in the future in 2074.  But only the mob has it.  They use it to transport those who they want killed, and loopers instantly kill them in the past, thus removing any traces of the person in the future.  However, these loopers are not without their issues with the system — as sometimes they are targeted.  Sometimes, loopers are forced to “close the loop,” their own; and when they don’t, other loopers pursue them until the days end…

Cast

The main character, Joe, is played by two roles, one older and one younger.  The older Joe from 30 years in the future is played by Bruce Willis of Die Hard fame.  The younger Joe is played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, perhaps better known as John Blake in Christoper Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises.  Paul Dano stars as Seth, younger Joe’s friend and fellow looper.  Older Seth is played by Frank Brennan. Abe is the capo of the mob sent back into the past, and he is played by Jeff Daniels. However, Kid Blue eventually becomes the main villain, and he is played by Noah Segan.  Emily Blunt stars as Sara, the owner of the farm and foster mother of Cid, her telekenetic son.  Cid is played by Pierce Gagnon.

Suzie, younger Joe’s girlfriend, a showgirl, is played by Piper Perabo.  Qing Xu stars as older Joe’s wife, Summer Qing.  These two are minor roles in the movie overall, but they each play a significant part in Joe’s life.   

Plot

The plot is fairly simple in terms of science fiction.  Loopers are essentially assassins in the past (relatively) whose sole purpose is to kill the people that the mafia from the future send back.  The problem arises for Joe is when his older self is sent back but escapes being shot.  The older Joe is after a villain from the future, the Rainmaker, who kills the mafia and their older loopers and comrades indiscriminately in the future.  Older Joe soon discovers that the Rainmaker is a strong telekenetic — who also happens to be a child.  In the older Joe’s mind, by eliminating the threat now, the Rainmaker will no longer pose a threat in the future.  With that, the younger Joe has differences and culminates in a showdown.

Review (Out of 10)

This movie overall was a fairly solid movie, and it was well-acted for the most part.  Kid Blue, Abe and both Joes played their roles convincingly.  However, it was not them that stole the show.  Cid, played by Pierce Gagnon, acted well-beyond his age.  For a 10 or some year-old, he acted more mature than some adults would.  However, the melding of three or four different sub-plots did not serve the film well in my honest opinion.  However, the last plot, the one concerning the mother’s love for her son perhaps struck best and hardest when it needed to.

This movie had elements of 12 Monkeys, Minority Report and Push, and for the most part, mixed fairly well.  In my opinion, this movie was perhaps doing too much.  Unlike 12 Monkeys, the basic plot was simple, but the entire movie was focused on that simple element, retrieval of the cure. However,  Looper, to me, lacked focus, particularly in the beginning, which impacted the rest of the movie.   Overall, Looper is a solid movie worth watching — an 8.0 out of 10.

Related articles

• This ‘Looper’ Deleted Scene Is Better Than Most Scenes In Other Movies (moviesblog.mtv.com)
• You Can’t Escape Your Past — or Your Future: ‘Looper’ (Review) (popmatters.com)
• The Very Good Part of Looper You Didn’t See (esquire.com)
• Looper (2012) (canadiancinephile.com)