Friday 19 October 2012

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?

18 comments:

  1. So I didn't read this cos of your "watch out for spoilers" warning so this comment is mostly useless. However I read "it's kind of a big deal" in Ron Burgundy's voice and then giggled about it for awhile and felt like that needed to be shared.

    ALSO JGL looks weird in the commercials/posters for this and I didn't realize it was him until someone told me it was.

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    1. You know what Alley? I am going to allow you to read paragraph... 5, I think (the one that starts 'While we're on the subject of JGL') because I found so profoundly disturbing that JGL looks the way he does in this that I felt it was only right to write a whole paragraph about it.

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    2. Oh man, I'm so happy it wasn't just me thinking "wtf? why's he look like that?" and ALSO that you directed me to a spoilerless section. Still, it's weird. They could have just been like "eh, who cares if JGL doesn't exactly look like young Bruce Willis". Normally that's the way Hollywood goes.

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    3. I know. But I kind of liked that they cared about the details. And they got the mouth EXACTLY right!

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  2. Great review.

    I was surprised they would change the looks of an actor so profoundly. Hope that doesn't become the norm.

    Interesting that a killer would become someone to identify with, means great storytelling.

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    1. Why thank you!

      I didn't necessarily mind it because it sort of needed to be done to make any sense... Or they could have just found some older dude who looked like JGL!

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  3. Hi, just awarded you The Liebster Award on my blog! Pass it on!
    http://bloggingaboutbook.blogspot.com/?spref=tw

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    1. Well hey thanks! I'm not sure if I'm going to pass it on cause my blogging friends get annoyed with me if I make them do stuff, but thank you so much for thinking of me!

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  4. I loved your explanation of the time travel "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" because it so perfectly summed up what I thought!

    Also, that scene with the friend and the (spoilers) falling to pieces stuff...holy shit that was amazing, and can you imagine how terrifying that would be?

    Also the kid was phenomenal, I felt like he should be playing Damien in the Omen or something, super creepy.

    Aaaaand, Rian Johnson is one of my favourite movie dudes, and I'm so glad he knocked this one out of the park because I was a little meh after I first saw the trailer. Which, was such a perfect trailer because it gave you a hint but it was SO different to what the actual story was about so there were like, no spoilers. Which is super rare in stupid trailers these days.

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    1. Riiiight?! Cause it's like, it's something you CAN get your head around and go 'oh, so THAT'S what that would be like...' even though it's clearly a practically unexplainable concept. I thought that was really clever.

      Dude, POOR PAUL DANO! I couldn't even cope with that, AND I knew it was going to happen because my friend told me about it! But it was so horrid!

      CREEPIEST KID EVER.

      Dude dude dude, I was seriously like 'WHY do I like this so much?!' and I've decided that Rian Johnson is the answer because he directed 2 episodes of Breaking Bad!!!! Which explained why his name was SO familiar, and also why Aaron Paul was pimping Looper on twitter all the time! Yeah, it was awesome.

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    2. If you haven't seen the film Brick yet then DO IT! It's Rian Johnson's first film and it has JGL in it looking super Heath Ledger-ý, and it's like a noir mystery in a high school. It kinda rocks my world every time I watch it.

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    3. I have not! But I shall. Going to search for it on LoveFilm right now.

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    4. Ohmygoodness watch it NOW. It's on Netflix streaming.

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    5. Megssss, you forget I'm not an American! Stupid English Netflix *mutters threats and things*

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  5. First off, I would like to say that I saw this on opening weekend at 10 a.m. and it was only $6...which is I-don't-know-what in pounds. But cheap.

    And I kind of LOVED the face prosthetics because even though he wasn't same-old JGL who I find ridiculously attractive, he was something NEW and ALSO attractive. And those blue eyes. *groan* Plus, I thought it was a good chance for him to show off his acting skills, because he was really great at taking on Bruce's expressions and mannerisms and way of talking.

    And EMILY BLUNT. How great is she? I have a massive girl crush.

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    1. Dude, that IS cheap! I complain because I went to see it in the daytime, which I KNOW used to be about £6 (still expensive) and last time I went it was definitely in the £7 and that was only April, SO I am miffed.

      I... Yeah, I DID still find him attractive, I have to admit! Not as much. But still. But I LOVE his deep deep deep brown eyes, I can't compromise on that! (especially cause with his colouring... Just looks WRONG) But yayayay our baby's acting skilllz, which are immense, I have to say.

      She was FAB! I've kind of avoided her accidentally since The Devil Wears Prada because I just want her to BE Emily, but she was really great. And her American accent?! *thumbs up*

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  6. I loved this film. I'm kinda annoyed we've been too busy to go back to the cinema to see it a second time. But now there's Bond instead...

    The facial prosthetics weirded me out but I think that actually worked in the film's favour. It helped me to not think of JGL as cute and cuddly for one thing ;-) And I love how ambiguous it all is, but in a proper thinky way. We spent a week talking about it afterwards.

    I second the Brick recommendation, by the way. Great film.

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  7. I'm so glad to find someone else who loves this film! So far I think it's my favorite movie to come out this year. I did end up seeing it twice because the first time, I accidentally went to a showing that had closed-captioning (which is cool that they have those, but was distracting for me). Anyway, definitely the kid was scary but then also could be so heartbreaking too. The action scenes were well-staged. I can find action scenes dull sometimes, but they did some interesting stuff with these.

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