Distributor: TriStar
(subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment)
Opening Weekend Box Office:
#2 with 20,801,522
Domestic Box Office
Gross to-date: $40,300,000
Gross Revenue: $40,300,000
Production Budget:
$30 million
Director: Rian Johnson
Now, when I first saw the trailer
for Looper, rather than focusing on
the complicated time travel angle, my attention was diverted by the fact that
the lead actor featured looked nothing like Joseph Gordon-Levitt. As it turns out, writer/director Rian Johnson
originally wrote the lead role with the talented young actor in mind, but as
time passed, Bruce Willis became available to play the future version of the
character, and the opportunity to include someone of that caliber couldn’t be
passed up, even if the two thespians looked absolutely nothing alike. So, Joseph Gordon-Levitt underwent hours of
make-up to come across as a younger version of the Hollywood icon…with that
kind of devotion to casting, filmmakers possibly couldn’t let other filmmaking
elements slide, right? Add-in Emily
Blunt, one of my top Hollywood crushes, and Jeff Daniels, someone who has
ascended to a new level of awesome thanks to the HBO drama The Newsroom, and Looper
was quickly transforming into one of the most anticipated films of the
year. Like I mentioned earlier, with
ridiculously high pre-release critical reception and positioning that drew
comparisons to cinematic game changers like Inception,
hopes were high that Looper, as the newest
R-rated entry in the sci-fi genre, would be far from a much-hyped disappointment,
like so many others before it (I’m looking at you, Prometheus).
Set in a world of time travel and
organized crime, Looper opens in the
year 2044, where specialized assassins known as “loopers” are tasked with
disposing of targets from the future; in the year 2074, the mob controls time
travel and sends victims to the past to avoid evidence that a murder has ever
taken place. The loopers are paid in
silver bars strapped to their anonymous victims until their contract expires
and they are forced to kill the future versions of themselves; this act, known
as “closing the loop,” earns the assassins a hefty payday and comfortable
retirement until their predestined death at the hands of their younger selves,
but failing this contract is nothing short of a death sentence. Joe Simmons (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) works as a
looper in Kansas in 2044, showing little remorse for his actions and enjoying a
drug-fueled illicit lifestyle, but one day, while on assignment, Joe finds
himself face-to-face with his older self, and after a second’s hesitation, Old
Joe (Bruce Willis) escapes. Now on the
run from his boss Abe (Jeff Daniels) and several hit men, Young Joe tries to
track down Old Joe and close his loop to set things in order; however, he soon
discovers that his future self has come back with ulterior motives, namely
identifying, tracking down, and eliminating a future mobster known as the “Rainmaker.” In tracing Old Joe’s planned movements, Young
Joe comes across a farm owned by Sara (Emily Blunt) and her son Cid (Pierce
Gagnon), both of whom possess telekinetic abilities and are likely targets for
his future self. Intent on setting a
trap for Old Joe and closing his loop, Young Joe grows attached to Sara and
Cid, and he is soon forced to take a hard look at the path that his life is
heading towards.
From the perspective of sheer
originality, Looper is absolutely
awe-inspiring, and the thought-provoking story that is ultimately told is one
that is delivered via exciting action, strong acting, and considerable
style. As two different versions of the
same characters, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis each deliver compelling
performances, with the former taking the weight of character development and
the latter upping the levels of badass in true Die Hard fashion. When it
comes to the more subtle performances delivered, Emily Blunt is as sexy as she
is engaging (as always), but the true surprise is young Pierce Gagnon as the
young telekinetic struggling to controls his powers, one who inspires fear in
his own mother, among others. In terms
of the overall style of this film, it is obvious that a great deal of effort
went towards bringing this futuristic world to life, and everything from the
direction to the set design and cinematography help immerse the audience in a
truly entertaining adventure. Yet, for
as big a success that Looper was in
its entirety, it is clear that the narrative would have benefited from a few
refinements in writing and pacing that could have helped reduce confusion among
mass audiences.
In case it wasn’t incredibly
obvious during the above plot synopsis, Looper
is a complicated film, and even though such complication is usually a necessary
evil when it comes to explaining time travel, there are a few too many
convoluted plot elements presented. Full
disclosure, I do realize that I am going to come-off as a huge nerd in pointing
this out, but the narrative of Looper
violates the very same rules for time travel that it so painstakingly
establishes…I do understand that these violations were largely necessary to
movie the story forward, but I have to wonder if there were ways around so many
blatant violations. I could go into a whole
explanation related to alternative reality and time travel paradoxes within
cinema, but no one wants to read that…suffice it to say that such complicated
subject matter will irk some sci-fi purists and confuse more casual
moviegoers. Now truthfully, these
violations aren’t a huge problem for most of the film, but in terms of the
final minutes and climactic twist ending, things go from acceptable to far too
convoluted, so much so that I know that a good portion of moviegoers walked
away with a different interpretation of the ending than what was originally
intended. Granted, this commentary is comprised
more of gripes than genuine criticism, so in the end, if you can wrap your head
around the complicated plot, you will undoubtedly enjoy Looper.
As an R-rated release competing
directly against a family-friendly animated film, Looper definitely had its work cut out to earn top release on
opening weekend, but I still expected audiences to respond a little more
strongly to a film surrounded by so much positive buzz. Then again, absolutely no one saw the
record-breaking performance of Hotel
Transylvania coming, so perhaps a second place opening just north of $20
million is still respectful. If
anything, even in spite of a perceived sub-par opening, audiences still love Looper, so positive word of mouth should
be more than enough to give this fall release the kind of legs needed to turn
into a true financial success. Though Joseph Gordon-Levitt will continue to
climb A-list after this turn as a sci-fi antihero, Looper will also have considerable impact on those behind the
camera; he may be a relatively new director, but expect to see much more from
Rain Johnson in the future, and based on this release, we should all be paying
attention. Bottom line, everyone from
action junkies and trekkies to mob movie aficionados will love Looper, so even though it is a little
confusing, it should still not be missed.
Overall Recommendation: High
