Andy Hofmann Reviews “Looper”

Looper: A science-fiction action film, written/directed by Rian Johnson, featuring time travel, a sprawling, American dystopia, and a facially-altered Joseph Gordon-Levitt to make himself look like a younger version of Bruce Willis.

Looper: Joe Simmons, in the dark year of 2044, works for crime lords 30 years further into the future (2074) as a Looper: part executioner, part body disposer. Crime syndicates send those they want bumped off to the past, bound and gagged, and, in order to circumvent anti-crime laws and technologies in that future era, the Looper goes ahead and fills their doomed bodies with lead. Then, a quick car ride to the local incinerator, a stop by HQ, and bam, cash. Big bucks. Organized Crime-funded, murderous bucks, but bucks nonetheless.

Looper: Where, inevitably, there are complications. Eventually, a looper has to go and help their future self shuffle off the mortal coil (a.k.a. “closing your loop”). Joe Simmons is entirely intent making sure that happens– unfortunately, however, Mr. Joe Simmons, aged 30 years, has different plans. What follows is an action sci-fi multi-tiered chase scene atmospheric shootapalooza that questions the nature of childhood, power, suffering, and, ultimately, selflessness.

Summary and subject matter aside, is it any good? Most of the advertising and branding for Looper has come across in the same sort of way many big budget mediocre science fiction films do– as not fully understanding of the genre, of being full of tonal and pacing dissonance, and being altogether unsatisfying. Honestly, going into the film I was expecting a rather sub-par experience.

Yet, thankfully, advertising isn’t always analogous to quality, and Looper manages to overcome any assumptions caused by its advertising. Looper understands itself– its genre, its world– and isn’t afraid to operate heavily on those understandings. Its sci-fi, deliciously dark, its vision of the urban landscape, heavily dystopian, its message, ultimately uplifting and redeeming in a world of indistinguishable black and grey morality.

The action scenes are powerful, well composed, made interesting and unique through the film’s particular quasi-cyberpunk setting. Guns have power and weight, the interplay between human flesh and killing machinery is visceral and horrifying, the dark setting and theme plays into a sense of the importance of every decision and action. In this way, Looper succeeds as an action film.

This power and energy manages to translate into the actual plot, theme and emotional depth of the story, as well. Already mentioned several times in this review, Looper is atmospheric, tense, and filled with a dark, dystopian ambiance. The way through which this cultural texture is portrayed is impressive and full of artistry– the film feels like something coming from science fiction’s long tradition, bearing the genre’s cynical core that came with the rise of postmodernism, of something inherently literary— portraying the dark emptiness of a party culture under the service of unseen institutions of crime, backed with striking images of decay and poverty backed by the sense of a U.S. already in decline. The picture of a lost generation, of an entire people rendered aimless, but ultimately redeemed by sacrifice– and motherhood.

The plot feels a little disjointed, easily divided into two different parts, and, at first glance, certain aspects of the time travel system make little to no sense. The film tries to take hold of so many ideas, people, and places that these problems are somewhat amplified, the contrast in pace making Looper feel like two different films entirely. Yet, the film’s self-assuredness, its ability to hold true to its world and history, allow these problems to be forgotten almost entirely, allow the world of Looper contain multitudes.

And, finally, a quick note: Looper is rated R for a reason. It has no qualms with swearing and violence. For a few short moments, there are scenes with nudity. If you aren’t comfortable with Looper’s raw depiction of a futuristic urban underworld, this film is not recommended for you.

However, if you want a surprisingly high-quality sci-fi film full of atmosphere, action and a few beautiful, fleeting notes of introspection, one that excels past the current crop of both action and science fiction films, filled with just as much passion as it is cynicism, go watch Looper. It’s exactly that kind of film.