DVD Review: Looper

Rating:

Taking place in the year 2044, Looper, written and directed by Rian Johnson, follows Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a killer working for the mob who soon realises that one of his targets is an older version of himself (Bruce Willis). Transported back with the intention to close the loop, Joe must decide whether he should stick to doing his job, ultimately putting an end to his life, or to help his future-self save the future from a mysterious crime boss known as the Rainmaker.

Looper quickly flew to the top of my favourite films of 2012 on its release last year, as an all-around brilliant sci-fi that is exceptional on so many levels. With Johnson creating a brilliant dystopian future and futuristic setting, the whole look and feel of Looper is incredible. Not including too much technology to take the focus away from the storyline, there are minimal changes to the setting which help to make the audience see this future as one almost believable.

The biggest quality of Looper, however, is the telekinesis sub-plot, as none of this could have been expected from the film’s promotion. Because of this, the plot has a depth to it that you wouldn’t expect, as I found myself constantly being surprised despite going into the cinema thinking I knew all that was going to happen. This part of the story also opens up some visually striking scenes of slow-motion action, which looked absolutely fantastic.

Even the characters looked good, especially Joseph Gordon-Levit and Bruce Willis in the lead roles. The prosthetics used to make them look believable as the same character were brilliant and was such a small quality that added to the ever-growing focus on detail that Johnson took the time to think about. Both actors give solid performances, each of them suiting their roles incredibly well. Emily Blunt, as well, is great, but she and JGL definitely needed more chemistry or a chance for their chemistry to fly at least, as the lack of emotion here would be my only real flaw.

The real star of this film, however, is the child actor (Pierce Gagnon), who gives such a strong performance for someone of his age. This is where the film could have gone terribly wrong if this character didn’t give the effect that Gagnon created with his flawless acting. What did put me off a little though was that the actor was only five years old when he was acting as a ten-year-old. This may emphasise the child actor’s brilliant performance, but an age gap this big didn’t work visually.

On a whole, Looper was powerful from start to finish, leaving a huge impression on me, from the scene where a man’s limbs disappear making my stomach knot to the film’s end which even made me shed a tear; that was something I certainly didn’t expect, and for that reason I was tremendously impressed.

Looper was released on DVD on 28th January.