Stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Noah Segan, Piper Perabo, Pierce Gagnon and Jeff Daniels Directed by Rian Johnson It might look contemporary, but this is actually a future set thriller with shades of The Terminator thanks to its time-travel and killers conceit. They don't explain how it works or who created - or even how its controlled by the mobsters - but in this world, time travel exists in the future (further on from where the movie is set). So, from this future, people are sent back by the mob to be killed in the present, thus removing all traces of that person in the future. The killers in the 'present day' are called "Loopers". An explanation is provided for this titular moniker. One of these Loopers, and really good at what he does, is Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). When Joe comes face to face with his future self (Bruce Willis), matters get out of hand. Young Joe has to kill his older self before his boss gets hold of him, but his older self has another agenda. With some added prosthetics, Gordon-Levitt does an admirable job mimicking most of Willis' little smirks and tics, giving the two a solid link as the younger and older Joe. It is very much Gordon-Levitt's show with WIllis carrying on doing what he does best, although a little similar to what he did in 12 Monkeys. Paul Dano has a small but significant role while Jeff Daniels shines a little as the mob boss, Ace, who hires the Loopers. Emily Blunt is almost unrecognisable as a single mother living on a farm that Young Joe meets up with, but she also does well there. There are moments within the story that lend to some quiet dramatic moments between Young Joe and Blunt's Sara, and they really give in to establishing their characters (and motives or intentions) well in those moments. The nature and consequence of time travel is given a decent work-out especially in one early moment involving Seth (Paul Dano). While the nature of paradoxes is touched on, it is handled far too lightly and practically dismissed outright. The time-travel is there simply to serve a particular purpose and the mechanics of it don't matter much. There is one other element introduced early in the story that feels like an afterthought simply because it becomes crucial towards the end. For me, I wished it was expanded a bit more. There is an intelligence in the structure of the story. Writer and director, Rian Johnson, does fairly well with his take on The Terminator idea, but also manages to build a metaphor around the title itself. Like any decent science fiction piece playing with time-travel, it also poses some conundrums for discussion. An average movie-goer weaned on the likes of Terminator 2: Judgment Day might find this a little boring though as the pace does slack in those quiet character moments. It shouldn't dissuade you form checking out what essentially is an intelligent science fiction offering with some great performances and loads of brilliant ideas in the story, dialogue and design.
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