Movies / Movie Reviews

Loopers Is Loopy

By Hervé St-Louis
October 1, 2012 - 10:14

Loopers is the story of Joe, an assassin in 2072 working for criminals 30 years into the future who travel back in time to dispose of hits. Time travelling is forbidden in the future and disposing of bodies is very difficult if not nearly impossible. When Joe’s future self is sent back to be executed, thereby closing the loop, his future self decides to fight back and escape to put an end to the Rainmaker, the mysterious man who hunts down all loopers in the present. But will Joe’s younger self allow his old self to mess up his life in the present?

I know every other reviewer gave Loopers a great rating but I won’t. It was a violent beyond excess and I think I’m no longer to stomach Tarantino-style executions on film. Some of it was gratuitous. The story was strong and the film stylish and definitely original. But there were plot holes throughout. But first let’s start with Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing respectively old Joe and young Joe. These two actors were impressive. Gordon-Levitt can definitely hold his own against Willis. But he didn’t get good material to work with in this film. Where Loopers shine, is where both actors do what they do best, deliver great performances. But the material was too poor to allow for that. We never understand young Joe’s motivations for wanting to execute his older self. Why break all promises to himself. Why was he so willing to be executed one day? Why didn’t he ever rally back to his older self? Having betrayed his best friend early in the film, one would think he would have a change of heart. He didn’t.

Willis’ reaction as he murdered children he suspect were the future Rainmaker was gruesome and realistic. Poignant moments as the weight of his acts were fully captured by the filmmakers. He was not a cold-blooded murderer. But the plot holes hurt this film. Was Cid (Pierce Gagnon), the future Rainmaker really an earlier version of Joe? If so, how come Joe had no telekinetic powers? Isn’t it weird to have a thirst for vengeance against your future self? What about the relationship with Kid Blue and Abe. It felt that Abe was the future self of Kid Blue but that was never established clearly. Was he or was he not? And why would the Rainmaker go to all the trouble of having Loopers execute themselves when he could get other Loopers to do the job for one another? And what about Old Seth whose younger self was mutilated thereby crippling Old Seth’s escape? How would he have gotten this far without legs and fingers? Wouldn’t the entire timeline be rewritten if he was now a cripple?

Loopers was definitely different as a science fiction thriller and will continue to propel Gordon-Levitt to the top Hollywood ranks. However, it’s marginally better than In Time or the new Total Recall but not completely thought out. Oh, Cid the kid with telekinetic powers is creepy. I’m tired of seeing creepy kids in movies.

Rating: 6.5 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12