In the near future, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, suspiciously made
up to resemble a young Bruce Willis, is living a grimy, hollow life as a
low-grade hit man, offing mob targets pushed under his trigger from a further,
time-travel enabled future, when who should show up at the wrong end of his
cannon than... bugger me, it's Bruce Willis!
Take one dollop of Source Code, mix in some 12 Monkeys,
add a dash of Terminator, and then serve with a somewhat unexpected side order
of Stephen King-style paranormal chills, and you're some way towards concocting
Rian Johnson's pacy and highly entertaining science-fiction adventure. JG-L is
pretty impressive in the lead role, channelling a young John McClane in a
leather jacket and ending up more than half-way James Dean, which is just about
right for the noirish '50s undertones of the heavily narrated first act. What
follows doesn't stand up to too much close analysis, but this really doesn't
matter once the chase kicks off. Looper delivers solid thrills, without going
overblown and losing focus on its engaging central characters. Not the smartest
temporal tale out there, but terrific fun while it lasts. Note: Also features
Jeff Daniels in beard.
Rating: 4/5
