Review of Looper (2012) by Phillip D — 04 Jun 2014

Looper was definitely much better than I expected given the premise. That being said, several flaws turned what could have been a great movie into just a slightly above average one. Admirably, the films has an incredible sense of drama.

The dramatic moments have you tense in your seat in a way few movies can do these days. Additional Levitt, who is usually a pretty sub-par actor, is excellent, with his stony demeanor really carrying the acting crew in what is undoubtedly his best role .

Unfortunately, these positive items are used to distract from the fact that Looper's plot is irreparably frayed. The time loop concept is wasteful at best, preposterous at worst. Any thought on the matter gets really confusing, as there are at least a dozen ways that futuristic mobsters could do their dirty work that would cost less men and money, be less illegal and go off much more smoothly.

Explanations for a multitude of other supporting items are never provided, leaving a movie that excites during but is a letdown after. Additionally the dialogue was written by a 5th grader, I'm sure.

Every line is desperately predictable, to the point where I would rather just watch the movie without any words. Finally, character development is similar, with Willis playing an especially stereotypical and predictable role.

Overall Looper is a much better movie than I gave it credit for. Unfortunately, it's no where near a 90% and is probably a once or twice watched movie at best. Interestingly, I can't help but think that Looper would have made a much better short film than full length.

Many scenes were quite useless but several large cuts would have made an excellent short movie series.