Looper’s premise is this: in the not-too-distant future (how
many times have we heard that?) time travel is invented, but it’s outlawed
almost immediately. Getting rid of a body in the future is near to impossible –
so organised crime sets up the Loopers. Loopers are hit-men but they are 30
years in the past, before time travel is invented- the future mafia send the
victims back in time and the Looper takes care of them and their body in the
past. But what happens when your next victim is your future self?
Now this premise intrigued me when I saw the trailer- I
asked myself, how are they going to pull that off well, especially when you’re
jumping around timelines and raising questions like, the future me will know
everything I’m doing… or have done? It’s a great idea, great concept and a new
twist on a sci-fi great – time travel. I thought. Unfortunately what you get is
a mess of a film. It flitters along at a dull pace, taking far too long to set
up a world to only then fail to deliver an exciting story and resolution.
The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis and Emily
Blunt. Levitt does his best with what he’s got, basically having to imitate a
young Willis – under some freaky make up that augments his face to make him
look like a young Bruce Willis. Unfortunately, Mr Levitt, relying on the make-up
for the role doesn't work. Bruce Willis has never been so clearly taking the
paycheck than here – he emotes his feelings of anguish by touching his forehead
and looking longingly at his past self – but it just is such a lazy performance.
Emily Blunt gives a great performance in a terrible film, her dialogue as a
mother who was estranged from her son is just unbelievable – who talks like
this? I know – no one does.
I could happily dissect just why this film is so bad – but
to do so without spoilers is a nightmare! So to just simply say that this
film’s style pallet is eclectic, its grasp of human behaviour is a joke, its
plot has more holes than a sieve and the ending of this film is so ridiculous
that it actually creates more issues than I can count!
Avoid.
Rating: 1 out of 5
Rhys
