Most of the people who will be reading this won't know who Rian Johnson is. But that's not an insult, as I'm sure even people who watch a ton of movies aren't completely sure who Rian Johnson is. Debuting to the public in 2005 with his gritty high school neo-noir, BRICK, Johnson has gone on to direct the 2008 caper film THE BROTHERS BLOOM and two episodes of the best show on television, BREAKING BAD.
Now, I really enjoyed BRICK and absolutely adore THE BROTHERS BLOOM, but I was unsure if Johnson's style would ever translate into a film that would appeal to mainstream audiences. His films asks a lot from their viewers. You have to not only pay close attention so as to not miss any key elements that are casually mentioned, but his films really make you submit to the world they are presenting in order to get the most out of them. Some people just aren't willing to suspend their disbelief to that extent.
So, needless to say when I saw that his newest film, LOOPER, about time travel and assassins and delayed suicide was slated to be a major release, I was worried. Luckily for me, with LOOPER, Rian Johnson not only confirms the already known fact that he's an excellent director, but also proves he can do an intelligent, thought provoking, big(ger)-budget action film that doubles as a fantastic popcorn-flick for any casual cinema goer.
LOOPER pretty much has everything you want. The crisp, snappy dialogue that made BRICK so fantastic is here again in full force. The cinematography by Steve Yedlin is impeccably executed, the makeup/prostheses/whatever it was to subtly make Joseph Gordon-Levitt resemble Bruce Willis is really unnerving at first but completely works once you get used to it, and the performances are top notch.
Gordon-Levitt as the younger Joe completely nails the pained look of bewilderment, slouchy walk, and wry smile that made Bruce Willis famous. Willis himself as senior Joe is also fantastic, doing some of the best work he's done in quite a long time and showcasing a wide range of emotion, from snarky superiority to completely devastated sorrow. Even Emily Blunt and the child actor Pierce Gagnon (who is AMAZING in a few scenes) both give top-notch performances with their comparatively small screen time.
All this being said, however, LOOPER, like all of Johnson's films, is about the story. And the story here is extremely smart, clever, and most importantly fun. Though I won't go deeply into the plot as to keep it as fresh as possible for those of you who haven't seen it (Sorry for how late this review is into its run), it hinges basically on the fact that Loopers are hitmen in the present (the present being 2044) whose only job is to kill people from the future (where time travel has been invented) who are doing the future mob harm. Sometimes, however, the mob wants to "close the loop" and sends back the Looper's future self to be taken out (along with a sweet, sweet 30 year pension in gold).
While, like most time travel movies, you can't really think too long and hard about the plot for fear of your head exploding, Johnson's narrative makes more sense and holds together better than the greater majority of time travel films out there (an obvious comparison that is even referenced in the film is Nacho Vigalondo's amazing film TIMECRIMES). Granted, like BRICK, it asks you to just accept a lot of elements: the Loopers' blunderbuss, the silver they're paid in, the loops that close and the ones that keep running. But if you just suspend your disbelief long enough, Rian Johnson takes you on a terrific, exciting, often heart-wrenching and terrifying, and extremely intelligent joyride that is a real reprieve from the everyday schlock that seems to haunt cinemas this time of year.
If you haven't seen it already, to randomly quote Tom Haverford and Donna Meagle: "Treat yo' self."
