Looper is a 2012 film directed by Rian Johnson, and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis. It follows a hitman from the past who is hired to kill criminals from the future. This movie is really underrated, and it uses it’s time travel scenario to the fullest extent with some unique ideas.
Looper takes place in 2044. In this dystopian version of America, hit men called loopers are tasked with killing people sent back in time 30 years from the future, as it’s very hard to get away with murder in the future. However, every once in a while, the people from the future will send back an ex-looper to be killed by themselves from the past. This is known as “closing your loop,”and it essentially means a looper only has 30 years to live. A ruthless crime boss from the future, known only as the Rainmaker, is killing off loopers by sending them back in time. He does this to a looper named Joe, however, the future version of Joe escapes before he can be shot by his past self. The future version then goes on to try and hunt down the rainmaker when he is still a child. This leads to a conflict between both the past and future versions of Joe opposing each other.
The movie has a really interesting premise, and it makes the most of it. There is an absolutely horrifying scene where a future looper is being killed off piece by piece in order to lure him into a trap. Another unique scene granted by this premise is how the audience sees a young Joe (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt,) age into an older Joe, (played by Bruce Willis) over the course of a 30 year montage. Additionally, the acting in this movie, from both versions of Joe, is fantastic. They seem like the same character, and the makeup on Joseph Gordon-Levitt is incredible. Bruce Willis even apparently said in an interview that he noticed Joseph Gordon-Levitt doing tiny behavior quirks that he does with his language. Overall, this movie is very smartly written, and very well acted.
The one thing I really didn’t like about Looper was the antagonist. I’m not talking about the older version of Joe, I mean the true antagonist, the Rainmaker. First off, I was a little disappointed that we as an audience never get to see the older version of the Rainmaker. He’s hyped up as being this brutally effective and mysterious boss, but he’s never shown, at least not as an adult. He is, however, shown as a kid, and he’s really annoying. He’s smart, but kind of rude to everyone, and it doesn’t make any sense that younger Joe suddenly starts caring for this kid after a single interaction involving him passing a screwdriver, and then Joe sleeping with his mom once. The kid is really unlikable, and I found myself wanting older Joe to shoot him in some scenes.
That being said, Looper is a very smart and interesting movie. It’s got a unique premise, some great acting, and some excellent scenes. It never fails to amaze me how Rian Johnson makes movies like this and Knives Out one year, but then an abysmal train wreck called the Last Jedi another year.