Looper - Review Thread

[JBond]

I didn't mention space battles. I'm confused.

[IanTheCool]

Originally Posted by JBond

I didn't mention space battles. I'm confused.

He was referring to Star Wars.

[JBond]

Oh I see. Clever. Of course space battles aren't far-fetched. The "one thing" in Star Wars is The Force. And as you said, it's fantasy. You can throw any **** you want into fantasy. That's why science fiction is better.

[Jack]

That is why Moon is kind of boring.

[JBond]

Strong argument... What about Back to the Future? Alien? Minority Report? Almost every science fiction movie?

[Jack]

Originally Posted by IanTheCool

Its long been argued that Star Wars is more fantasy than sci-fi.

Yeah, I've heard that argument. I ain't buying it. It is rabbit hole of geeks trying to out-geek geeks. That line of genre line-drawing always struck me as kind of snotty...like when horror fans are like "well it's not really horror..it is more of a psychological thriller." Star Wars ain't Clarke, but that doesn't mean the don't can't exist under the same umbrella.

Originally Posted by IanTheCool

Are you a Filmspotting listener, by chance?

Yeah. You got me.

[Jack]

Originally Posted by JBond

Strong argument... What about Back to the Future? Alien? Minority Report? Almost every science fiction movie?

Yeah...I like those movies.

I just think this purest science-fiction zealotry (I kid) that bows to the thrown of movies zeroing in on one idea and seeing them to their logical end leaves me cold. I used Moon as an example because it is a good movie, it is very well-made and well thought out. I just thought it was also boring because it was so methodical and plodding down this one narrow path.

To say a movie ain't up to genre snuff because it has telekinesis and time travel just struck me as funny. I'd typically much rather see movies reach into the toy box more than once.

I know some folks felt it wasn't well-executed in Looper, and that's fine. I think part of it is a perception of marketing and expectations. I hope when folks revisit Looper, they'll see it as a whole experience. It pretty well lays out its world, plants the seeds, and then reaps the benefits through thematic exploration (uncontrolled violence, nature vs. nurture) of its neat (and cool-looking!) mechanisms, etc.

[JBond]

I wouldn't say Star Wars isn't science fiction, but when discussing science fiction, 9 times out of 10, it helps to not include it. Tomatoes may be fruit, but they won't be in my fruit bowl.

[JBond]

Originally Posted by Jack

Yeah...I like those movies.

I just think this purest science-fiction zealotry (I kid) that bows to the thrown of movies zeroing in on one idea and seeing them to their logical end leaves me cold. I used Moon as an example because it is a good movie, it is very well-made and well thought out. I just thought it was also boring because it was so methodical and plodding down this one narrow path.

To say a movie ain't up to genre snuff because it has telekinesis and time travel just struck me as funny. I'd typically much rather see movies reach into the toy box more than once.

I know some folks felt it wasn't well-executed in Looper, and that's fine. I think part of it is a perception of marketing and expectations. I hope when folks revisit Looper, they'll see it as a whole experience. It pretty well lays out its world, plants the seeds, and then reaps the benefits through thematic exploration of its neat (and cool-looking!) mechanisms (uncontrolled violence, nature vs. nurture), etc.

Except limiting science fiction to one "impossible" plot point isn't the same thing as coldly plodding down a narrow path. (See: Back to the Future)

I also hope Looper works better the second time through.

[Jack]

Sure, that's fair. Back to the Future explores one idea, time travel, with warmth and humor and it does it well. But I'd argue the android element in Alien is akin to the telekinesis element in Looper: a late-in-the-movie, monkey-with-a-wrench that allows the universe of the film to expand.

[JBond]

Hmm, perhaps.

To be fair, a lot of it comes down to the fact that I HATE any kind of mind reading or mind moving in any science fiction. Especially when it's handled in this way (and like in Heroes) where it's suggested that evolution is leading up to it, and it's almost here. Bull****. You'd be amazed how many people believe in ESP and this is the reason it's thrown about so frivilously in science fiction.

[IanTheCool]

Originally Posted by JBond

I wouldn't say Star Wars isn't science fiction, but when discussing science fiction, 9 times out of 10, it helps to not include it. Tomatoes may be fruit, but they won't be in my fruit bowl.

Nice metaphor!

[Dhamon22]

Originally Posted by Jack

That is why Moon is kind of boring.

I thought Moon was incredible.

[Neverending]

I guess Looper will be the last film I see in 2012. And I have mixed feelings about it. The concept is brilliant but it isn't well executed.

For starters, it isn't believable that Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis are the same character. I don't understand why they couldn't find an older actor that slightly resembles Gordon-Levitt. Remember Big Fish? Remember how Albert Finney and Ewan MacGreggor kind of look-a-like and that helped the movie tremendously? It makes a major difference when real effort is put into casting instead of just looking for a big name. Also, the make-up job on Gordon-Levitt is bad and a major distraction. The other big flaw is the middle section where "Young Joe" is hanging in the farm with Emily Blunt and "the TK Freak" while Bruce Willis goes around killing children. Those scenes could have used tighter editing because they dragged a lot.

But other than that, it's NOT a bad film. I liked it a lot. I just didn't love it. It's got a great script, a strong beginning & ending, and an inventive musical score by Nathan Johnson that should definitely be nominated for an Oscar but probably won't. It's definitely worth the $1.50 rental from Redbox. So, check it out.

[Daniel]

just an aside - It's funny, I once agreed with the argument that JGL should have maimed his hand instead of killing himself in order to save the mother, but the more I think of it, the more I think he would have had a prosthetic made or come up with some other method of still being able to be a ruthless killer, so I think death was the only option.

[shained]

Or shoot his hand and then go kill older joe and live a happy life with the family?

[Fanible]

My first thought was to kill older Joe, meet up with the family, then have the camera pan back to old Joe's body and have it vanish, implying that he was never sent back since nothing bad ends up happening.

A little too happy that, I suppose.

[Dhamon22]

Watched it again last night, loved it just as much. Still my favorite movie of the year.

[JBond]

I liked this more the second time through. I'll upgrade my 3 star rating to 3 and a half.

[Neverending]

Everything That's Wrong With Looper in 3 Minutes or Less:

VIDEO-CLick to Watch!:

BTW, they stole one of JBond's jokes.

[JBond]

Not bad, but a lot of thigns "How did he not remember his finger was cut off/got scars on his arm" shows a misunderstanding of how this movie dealt with time travel. These chagnes are a bit instantaneous. Perhaps he DID remember cutting an arrow on his arm, but only RIGHT THEN.

And they missed one of the biggest problems because it deals with the whole freaking premise. If you can't dispose of bodies in the future because of tracking devices, how does sending them back in time help? They'll appear 30 years later, or from their perspective, instantaneously.

[JBond]

What joke did I make?

[Neverending]

The aliens one, I think.

[JBond]

Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks scifi subgenres shouldn't be mixed.

[MovieBuff801]

Watched this again today. Definitely one of my favorites of last year. I was just as enraptured with this the second time as I was the first time. Maybe even more so.