Fulfilling the ambitions of his debut Brick, Rian Johnson crafts a scintillating neo-noir gem of existential
quandaries and inescapable fatalism with Looper.
In 2044, Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) works as a Looper – a mob assassin who,
because it's too tough to dispose of bodies in the future, kills targets sent
back in time by his employers. That vocation becomes complicated when he's
tasked with offing himself, a practice known as "closing the loop" that
goes awry when his future self (Bruce Willis) escapes, thus putting both men on
the run from crime boss Abe (Jeff Daniels), and eventually leading them to the
farmhouse of Sara (Emily Blunt), whose son Cid (a terrific Pierce Gagnon) may
grow up to become the mysterious underworld kingpin who's determined to close
out all Looper contracts. That intricate narrative path is handled with assured
and thrilling aplomb by Johnson, who forgoes his prior films' self-conscious
cutesiness for a grim, no-nonsense mood of dread and futility. Aided by an
editorial structure that keeps various threads in expert balance, his gorgeous
and graceful camerawork exhibits a fluidity that's at odds with the increasing literal
and moral messiness of Joe's plight. Wearing facial prosthetics to better resemble
a young Willis, Gordon-Levitt has a hardboiled weariness that's simultaneously
endearing and pitiful, and is juxtaposed with Willis' somber desperation and,
amusingly, his frustration and fury at the foolishness of his younger self. With
both its urban and rural-cornfield milieus marked by consuming bleakness, Looper harkens back to both Blade Runner and The Killers while nonetheless crafting its own unique spin on noir
fatalism. That culminates in an inventive third act that – integrating further
sci-fi elements which enhance and complicate its larger ideas about
actualization, free will, and sacrifice – determines that, regardless of noble
intentions, there's ultimately no changing one's fate.
Great job on the blog, trying to get mine up to your standards!
If you wish to visit my blog and leave some tips.
http://moviemaniam21.blogspot.co.uk/
Cédric
Posted by: Cédric | February 15, 2013 at 03:14 PM