Jonathan Garcia / Staff writer
“Looper” is an action, sci-fi thriller that stars Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt, and Jeff Daniels. The movie is written and directed by Rian Johnson, and has been getting great reviews from critics. It currently holds a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and has been named one of the best films of the year. Unfortunately, it is to be brought to everyone’s attention that this movie, although boasting a fresh storyline and great acting, does not live up to the hype.
The film is centered in the year 2044 where time travel hasn’t been invented. However, 30 years from that setting it will be invented and outlawed. The biggest crime bosses take their targets they want to rub out and zap them to the past where they are killed by “Loopers” – erasing all trace of that person’s existence. Loopers are a group of hired guns paid by silver to kill their targets, and when their contract is done; they kill their older selves and get paid by gold instead of silver. One day, Joe (Levitt) sees his older self (Willis) appear right in front of him and hesitates to kill him, allowing his future self to escape. This causes trouble for Joe as now the mafia is sent to capture him and is on the run while trying to hunt down and kill his old self.
The acting in the movie was great, and the makeup work they did on Joseph Gordon-Levitt to make him look like a young Bruce Willis was top-notch. One can actually believe that he was a young Willis while watching this movie. It has a fresh storyline that is different from what we see in movies today, and unfortunately that is where the issues come in. When we learn about the older Joe’s plans when he’s in the past, the plot becomes over-the-top, and too much to handle. And the ending of this movie had everyone in the theatre go, “That’s it?” and not meant in a good way.
Overall, “Looper” had the potential to be great, but with an unsatisfying ending and some problems with the storyline it just makes this movie fall flat. The movie is a rental or Netflix download at best, or even wait until it comes to the dollar movie theater.
