Devouring Films: Looper

Please Note: This is going to be more of a recap than a review, so there will be spoilers. So if you haven't seen Looper, I'd probably stop reading now. Also I'd probably get myself to a cinema cause, you know, it's kind of a big deal.

When the casting people involved with Looper approached Bruce Willis for the role of Old Joe in Looper, I wonder how they sold it to him. 'So, Bruce, we won't be asking you to do anything that you haven't done a million times before, just the usual you know, running around and shooting people whilst miraculously avoiding being shot because you're the greatest. You will have to be the older version of this kid, JGL, but don't worry- we'll change his face so he looks like you because let's face it, you're the real hero. You will have to speak like one line of French though. So, whaddaya say?'

How could he refuse?

So, I finally saw Looper yesterday and, despite being snarky about Bruce Willis's role since, come on, he wasn't exactly stretched by it; I was otherwise completely and utterly impressed. It's been added to my 'list of things I was sceptical about but ended up LOVING' which obviously doesn't exist in physical form because who can be bothered? But is still a real thing that applies to a lot of things I see or read. Looper surprised me in ways I wasn't expecting, which meant that it delighted me, as all good cinema-going experiences should (especially ones that cost more than £8. Oy.)

If you'll allow me to get specific, I'll try to explain exactly why I liked it so much. From the beginning, it doesn't feel like a typical action movie; since it starts in a cornfield and things are set up so that the people being killed can't really fight back, there's limited potential for it to be the typical blockbuster-that-makes-me-roll-my-eyes. The action aspect of Looper is what made me dubious about its goodness, so I was really happy that it wasn't just a load of set pieces of shit-getting-blown-up and 20 car chases and people running around shooting each other. There were parts that were like this, of course, but it's not nearly what all of the film is like, which is definitely a good thing.

What I really liked were the small things. How TK is mentioned really really subtly in the in the first 5 minutes of the movie and you don't even notice and then it becomes a central problem, or maybe the central problem. How there's no attempt to really explain time travel and all the paradoxes it creates, but instead a more sensory explanation is given: how it feels to BE the paradox. And maybe above all, I love how this whole dystopian city is created and then practically ignored so that JGL, ostensibly the action hero, can sit in the middle of a cornfield for the majority of the movie. I mean, WHO DOES THAT?! It's unexpected, unprecedented, and awesome.

While we're on the subject of JGL, we need to talk about two things: that face, and how awesome his character becomes. Oh, and Kevin. (Sorry.) But first, THAT FACE! I feel like I know JGL's beautiful face so well (better than I know his full name, if I'm honest) that its BruceWillis-like modifications (which, admittedly, did make him look like Bruce Willis) really freaked me out. I understand why they did it, and I also understand, features-wise, why they modified JGL instead of Bruce (in general, JGL's features seem kind of... smaller? And it's easier to make his features bigger than Bruce's smaller. Or something.) but still... I wanted him to have his face back!

And now, for character development. I feel like, in the beginning, JGL isn't necessarily someone you're sure you want to root for. I mean, he sells his best friend for silver (and how horrific was that?!) and, let's face it, he's a professional killer. It kind of feels, though, that everything else that happens to him in the film means that he has the opportunity to atone for this one action, and to try and stop himself from becoming the bitter self he sees in Bruce Willis. In the end, he's kind of a tragic hero- he sees this one woman willing to die for her son (aside: HOW CREEPY WAS THAT KID?!) and a man willing to kill for his wife, and he knows both that he's never felt this way about another person (see: selling his best friend out for silver) and that he can stop both of these things from happening. So he does, and he saves the world. We hope.

I realise that this is just a ramble-jumble-love thing about Looper, and you know what? I'm perfectly ok with that. I only saw it yesterday and already can't wait to see it again, although I will wait, obviously, because WOAH cinema prices! (I know I sound like an old person. But I hadn't been to the cinema for ages!) But basically, just like every other film I've seen involving JGL, it rocks.

What did YOU think of Looper?