I liked Looper because it’s old school sci fi – based on an idea, in this case, what happens if humans learn how to time travel? I think that much of the sci fi in that past thirty years hasn’t been idea-based, but more an excuse to clothe a monster movie or an action movie in cool-looking sci fi settings. The credit here goes to writer-director Rian Johnson who has imagined a 2044 in which the richest 10% (including organized criminals) live pretty well, but the rest of us vie for scraps in decayed cities that haven’t seen any investment since maybe 2012. In Johnson’s foul future, time travel is discovered, but by 2074, is used by criminals to dispose of their victims back in 2044.
In Looper, 2044 hit man Joseph Gordon-Levitt is confronted with the 2074 version of himself, played by Bruce Willis. Willis is on a mission to do something in 2044 that will change an outcome in 2074. The mission is shocking – would you murder a child to prevent him from growing up to become a Hitler-like monster?
In a year with many excellent performances by child actors, Pierce Gagnon plays one compellingly terrifying four-year-old. As a bonus, one of my favorite character actors, Garret Dillahunt (No Country for Old Men, Assassination of Jesse James, Winter’s Bone) has a nice turn near the end of the movie.
As Looper climaxes, the audience needs to think along – if history is altered, how will the dominoes fall?
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