Review of Looper (2012) by Louis L — 12 Feb 2014

Sci-fi story mixed with thriller, it follows the steps of Joe, a young bloke that earns his money by killing men sent from the future. In 30 years from when the movie is set time travel will start but it will be almost impossible get rid of bodies because of the tagging, so victims are sent to the past to get murdered by loopers like Joe. Things get complicated when old Joe from the future is sent back to young Joe from the present. Will Joe kill his own self?

It is a typical Hollywood product, famous actors, good action scenes and easy storytelling. It is a good film by Hollywood standards, and mercifully they didn't over complicate the difficulties of time travelling which is a bonus because usually those movies are really confusing and you only manage to get it after watching it 3 or 4 times. In here the story is quite straight forward and violent, as most hit men stories are, but there are brush strokes of love and abandonment without forgetting the thriller part which is old Joe fighting young Joe over the life of a child that is to become the worst gangster of the future. Will you or will you not kill the boy? That is the question. Naturally goodness should triumph over evil, but is there such a thing like absolute good? The movie picks up on that feature but never fully develops it, however we are left with a decent drama/thriller that fully entertains us.