Review of Looper (2012) by Sam J — 09 Jan 2018

I so, so wanted to love this movie through the whole runtime. I'm a sucker for smart time travel stories, and it's hard to make an original film in that sci-fi niche. The acting, cinematography, and [most of the] action are great. The characters, arcs, and themes of the film are top-notch. However, there's no way to overlook some of the annoyingly long subplots/characters, the fact the movie world doesn't follow its own rules, the illogicality of this mafia-run future, and more. Several scenes were unnecessary, the emotions asked of us make no sense in the film's world, and the super-powers were clunky and forced (apart from one great scene). The film seemed confused whether it was trying to open a franchise or be a unique product. Finally, the ending plot hole is too big to ignore.

-SPOILERS-.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt's sacrifice at the end of the film is meaningless. He thought by killing himself, Bruce Willis wouldn't shoot the mom and the kid wouldn't grow up to become evil. But that's not how it happened the first time. The first time, the kid grew up with the mom alone. He still became evil, she didn't stop anything. So, by Joseph Gordon-Levitt killing himself, he allowed the kid to grow into the mass murderer anyway. Good job, idiot. You're worse than Qui-Gon Jinn letting Anikin be trained against all logic to kill all the Jedi. Don't try to tell me he somehow knew that the child would turn out differently than he would have the first time. Why would you say that? The film didn't suggest that was the case. It randomly changed the story near the end so the audience thinks that somehow now the kid can grow up with the mom like he should have. BUT THAT HAPPENED AND HE TURNED INTO A MASS MURDERER. She's just a BAD MOM. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character is an idiot. They were made for each other. That's the only thing learned from the film's ending.