Looper has been hailed by critics and as one of the best science-fiction films in recent memory, being placed alongside such hallowed modern classics as The Matrix trilogy and Inception. What differentiates it, and ultimately makes it revolutionary, is its ability to intertwine science-fiction elements, most notably time travel, with the deeply moving moral dilemmas of its characters.
Looper begins in 2044, in a society not very different from our own. Time travel has not been invented... yet. Thirty years in the future, it does exist, and is being utilized by crime syndicates to eliminate their adversaries. Victims are sent thirty years back in time and executed by assassins known as 'loopers.' This then becomes 'the perfect crime:' no body, no murder.
There is one catch, however. The hitmen known as loopers must perform an action that is referred to as 'closing the loop.' To close the loop, one essentially commits suicide. The looper's future self is sent back in time with a bag over his head, and the looper, completely unaware, shoots and kills him. This is part of the deal: a looper limits his own life span in return for monetary compensation and a life of relative luxury that he might be unable to achieve otherwise.
Young Joe, remarkably well-acted by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is one such looper. Standing in a Kansas cornfield, he is prepared to complete another routine murder, until the victim unexpectedly arrives without a bag over his head. Young Joe stares into the eyes of his intended victim and realizes that it his older self. Surprised, Young Joe remains momentarily frozen, and Old Joe (Bruce Willis) takes advantage of this opportunity to knock out Young Joe and escape. Young Joe pursues him, knowing that if he does not close his loop, the consequences will be most certainly mean his own death.
As the film progresses, we see the introduction of many more complex motivations. Old Joe is revealed to be working to avenge the murder of his wife by the malevolent crime boss referred to in 2074 as The Rainmaker. Old Joe discovers three children living in 2044, one of which has to be the Rainmaker, and begins a relentless mission to kill all three. The erasure of the child will, he assumes, bring back his wife. If the Rainmaker never existed, his wife would have never been murdered, and thus, Old Joe assumes, will be alive and well in 2074. Meanwhile, Young Joe pursues Old Joe, still looking to close the loop and save himself.
This results in a beautifully constructed confrontation scene, perhaps the most engaging moment in the film. Both actors are able to perfectly convey, and even revel in, the strangeness of the situation of facing yourself across a diner booth. However, Johnson avoids delving too deeply into the existential implications of the situation. This was one of the more disappointing points of Looper for me, from a personal perspective. I craved some kind of more complicated philosophical discussion. If given the opportunity to have steak and eggs with myself thirty years from now, I don't think that I would bother with logistics. But I am not Young Joe, and at this point in the film, he is still on a single-minded mission to close his loop.
This single mindedness begins to shift with the introduction of Sara (Emily Blunt), and her young son, Cid, who is revealed to be one of Old Joe's three targets. Young Joe is confronted on all sides by self-sacrifice. Sara would do anything necessary in order to protect Cid. Old Joe is willing to kill innocents in order to bring back his wife. Young Joe's realization causes the most beautiful revelation in the film. Young Joe suddenly understands that the violence and destruction that the Rainmaker causes in 2074 is a circular device, and it results directly from the violence and destruction that is occurring now, in 2044. So Young Joe selflessly closes his own loop.
Unlike Christopher Nolan's Inception, Looper does no get caught up in explaining its own plot. Johnson uses voice-over remarkably well to explain various plot details, allowing the audience to focus on the emotional impact of the film, rather than distracting us with abstractions. In fact, one of the most admirable features of Looper is that is refrains from attempting a scientific explanation of how time travel works. We are told that it exists, and that it works, and we accept it. Again, this allows us to focus on the movie itself, rather than spending two hours twisting our minds around practicalities.
Looper is also incredibly adept at displaying the complex, interwoven morality that exist in the real world. All characters are independently motivated. None of their motivations are inherently good or evil; they simply conflict with each other. Each character displays an almost equal measure of selfishness and selflessness. This is how Looper avoids descending into stale stereotypes of black and white morality, instead inhabiting a world of emotional and ethical grayness.
The film also features incredible special effects and makeup, and a fascinating soundtrack composed largely of "found sounds" (see this video for further explanation).
Looper undeniably lives up to its reputation as one of the greatest science-fiction movies to be released in the past few decades. Its clever screenplay, admirable acting, exploration of morality, and enthralling action sequences are almost universally appealing. And, important for those fans of Rian Johnson's other work, most notably Brick (2005), it manages to maintain stylistic touches (such as elements of noir) that make his filmography unique. It succeeds on multiple levels, and for those who haven't seen it, deserves a theater viewing as soon as possible.
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