Economic Overview and Context:
Looper is an American science fiction action thriller film released in 2012. It is directed and written by Rian Johnson. Johnson is known for his inventive storytelling that blends different genres for Looper. In the film, he tells a gritty character-driven time travel story that deals with morality, choice, and the impact of one’s actions. It also features Joseph Gordon Levitt, Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt. It also revolves a round a science fiction noir crime.
Plot Overview:
The main character in the story is Joe. The world is divided into two timelines with 30 year time difference. The year 2044 and 2074. In 2074, time travel is developed but has its limits. It is illegal and controlled by powerful criminal syndicates. As destroying bodies in the future is difficult owing to tracking technology, these syndicates use time travel to send targets back to 2044. Where a hired assassin known as a “looper” kills them and gets rid of the evidence.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt features as Joe, a Kansas-based skilled “looper” in 2044. He works under Abe, a futuristic sent-back mobster controlling the Kansas operations. Payment for Loopers comes in the form of silver bars, and each looper is eventually required to “close their loop”: kill their future self sent back 30 years. This ensures no loose ends. In exchange for closing the loop, a gold bar payment is offered, and after living the remainder of their looper life, a capture is eventually staged to curl the sent-back executor.
The primary conflict kicks in when Joe’s latest assignment walks in unhooded, sparing him the disguise he is meant to wear and revealing Bruce Willis. The older version of Joe fights back, escapes, and together, they create a lethal paradox. Now, younger Joe is in a race to resolve the situation, before his employers put him on the chopping block for failing the mission.
In the future, it seems that a figure known only as the Rainmaker has taken control of the underworld, closing all loops. The older version of Joe had his wife killed in one of the future crackdowns, so now he has traveled to the past to kill the Rainmaker as a child to avoid that future. To now prevent this future, he has a list of potential young Rainmakers he plans to euthanize, but this means butchering children, something that lies in the story’s moral quagmire.
Younger Joe tracks the lead to a secluded farm and discovers a resourceful single mother, Sara, along with her son Cid. As the story progresses, it becomes evident that Cid is the Rainmaker, and he has quite notable telekinetic powers. Cid’s powers, while remarkable, are volatile and dangerous, and he can kill in a split second if he feels threatened.
To avert the impending catastrophe, Older Joe is fully resolved to kill Cid; however, Younger Joe tries to ‘save’ the future by protecting Sara and Cid, firmly believing he can break the cycle and stopping the murder. The climax occurs when Older Joe finally confronts Sara and Cid by the farm. Younger Joe, trying to intervene when the tragedy is about to unfold, finally understands the Rainmaker becomes that way because he is traumatized by witnessing his mother’s murder. To prevent that, Younger Joe resolves to kill himself and in doing so, removes Older Joe from existence allowing Sara to nurture Cid with dreams of a brighter future.
Cast & Crew
Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Young Joe — heavily made up with prosthetics to resemble Bruce Willis.
Bruce Willis as Old Joe — the hardened, desperate future version of Joe.
Emily Blunt as Sara — a protective mother trying to shield her son from danger.
Pierce Gagnon as Cid — Sara’s young son and the potential Rainmaker.
Jeff Daniels as Abe — the mob boss from the future managing the loopers.
Noah Segan as Kid Blue — a bumbling enforcer loyal to Abe.
Paul Dano like Seth, who is one of the loopers, makes a mistake that sets the earlier events into motion.
Rian Johnson both wrote and directed the film. The film was produced by Ram Bergman, with the chapters shot by Steve Yedlin. Johnson’s score is filled with atmospheric and tension-filled music.
Themes & Analysis
Looper is a blend of a science fiction story, a crime thriller, and a moral drama. Johnson works to avoid overly complex mechanics and focuses on the emotional impacts of the act.
Fate vs. Choice is central to the story. The older version of Joe believes he will need to kill a child to save a future threat. Younger Joe learns that those actions perpetuate the cycle of violence.
Two other themes together could be referred to as the violence and cycles of violence. The loopers are a metaphor for self-destruction. In Younger Joe’s case, self-destruction creates the cycle to kill oneself over and over. To break the cycle, selflessness is required. In this case, selflessness is ultimately embraced by Younger Joe.
Sara’s need to safeguard Cid parallels Older Joe’s desperate need to save his wife. While Older Joe resorts to severe control, Sara opts for nurturing guidance, illustrating the differences in their approaches.
The performances and prosthetics reveal both continuity and contrast. Younger Gordon-Levitt’s Joe is a short-sighted and arrogant. In contrast, Willis’s older Joe is burdened by love and regret.
Visual Style & Production
The rural farmland and skeletal urban decays of Losiana, which served as the setting for both the city sequences and Sara’s farm, posed a cinematic city for the film’s principal Louisiana filming. In contrast to the time travel and telekinesis transitions which were reserved for selective visual effects, Louisiana’s countryside was muted towards a golden hue,while the city was dominated by a grim industrial future.
To closely and convincingly portray Gordon-Levitt’s speech, expressions, and mannerisms, he underwent hours of prosthetics to reshape his face to Willis’s. Studying his mannerisms, speech, and expressions ensured a seamless connection between the two Joes.
Reception & Legacy
Looper did well for itself both in terms of sales and reviews. It grossed around $175 million worldwide, more than five times the investment of $30 million. Critics praised its originality, tight pacing and the juxtaposition of action and storytelling. Both Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis received praise, Gordon for his uncanny ability to transform into a younger Bruce Willis and Willis for his performance. Also, a shout out to the young actor Pierce Gagnon for his intense and nuanced performance of Cid.
Not overcomplicating things with time travel is one of the many reasons why Looper is one of the best Sci-fi films of the 2010s.
Conclusion
Looper illustrates the wonderful ability of science fiction to be both action-packed and emotionally engaging at the same time. While action-packed shootouts and nail-biting chases deliver fireworks of their own, the questions of morality the film poses, such as the possibility of breaking the unending cycle of violence, or the impact of a single sacrifice on life, future, or heads Martin’s impact.
Rian Johnson’s film focuses on time travel, but deeply human themes ensure that the film remains a topic of discussion more than a decade after its release. The film’s core premise, that acts of compassion or selflessness fuel tangible shifts in destiny, makes Looper a unique gem in the genre.
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