Looper

[dark_b]

i read a lot of interviews from Nolan. he made it very clear what he was doing with his movies.

 

[Gianakin_]

And yet more than half of stuff was left conveniently unexplained. Again, it's the fans' fault for not understanding that Nolan was talking about tone and little more.

 

[DarthMuppet]

I also don't think the ending quite adds up. We are led to believe that the Rainmaker was sending loopers back to die because Old Joe killed his mother. But the Old Joe who was sent back in time had killed his old self in the original timeline, as we witnessed, and had never even met Emily Blunt's character. And thus if that happened, then the Rainmaker never would have come to power. Yet somehow he had, and sent Joe back to die. So perhaps an Old Joe from a third timeline had been sent back, or another looper had killed Emily Blunt (because of that whole physics theory about how things eventually come back to the same place even if we deviate from the original path) but this was never fleshed out and Johnson himself doesn't seem to be able to explain it in the interviews I read.

Anyway, like I said, I still really liked the movie, but I think he got too hooked on "getting time travel out of the way" and didn't fully think through some of the "rules," so to speak.

Quite a few people have missed the point. In Old Joe's original timeline, Joe had nothing at all to do with the creation of the Rainmaker. Cid became the Rainmaker in the original timeline because he did not accept Sara as his real mother. Her believed Sara's sister was his real mother and he did in fact see her die(actually, he is responsible for her death, though it was accidental). He grew up angry and without any real connection with Sara, who he saw as a liar. It is Young Joe's interaction with Sara and Cid in the new timeline that begins to repair the relationship between Sara and Cid. Sara faces up to abandoning Cid and Cid is finally able to accept that Sara is his real mother and that she does indeed love him. At this point, Cid would start down a path where he would grow up in a loving environment and not become the Rainmaker. At the end, Young Joe realizes that if Old Joe kills Sara, the timeline will basically revert back to what it was. Having just accepted Sara and then watching her die, Cid would probably go on to be an even worse version of the Rainmaker. By killing himself, Young Joe prevents this and creates a new future for Cid where he grows up in a loving environment and where the Rainmaker will never exist.

 

[marty mcfly]

Not to turn this into a Nolan thread but he never said that his movies were reality. He said that they were grounded in reality.

How would a city react to a masked hero and a face-painted terrorist? You've got a hero jumping on rooftops, but instead of someone like Daredevil, who can seemingly jump 60 feet from one building to the building across the street and not break both of his legs, Batman's cape is what helps him glide and land safely. Could that happen in reality? No, but in Nolan's Bat-world, the cape provides a reason for why Batman doesn't have broken ankles. And that's what helps ground the film in reality.

To go along with what -JKR- said, regarding Indiana Jones, it's almost impossible to get a whip to attach itself to an overhead beam and actually support your body weight as you swing across a bottomless pit, only to unravel once you safely land on the other side. But there was a time when people could actually watch a movie and suspend disbelief enough to become wrapped up in that world for 2 hours and just enjoy the ride.

With Looper, it's explained that going into the details of time travel will fry your brain like an egg, so they wisely skip over that part so that we, as an audience, can just enjoy the film. In the context of this world (which is also grounded in a future reality where time travel exists) we have to just assume that certain things that would appear to create a major paradox aren't quite so problematic here. It's a major leap for some people but I was happily on board and enjoyed every second of the film.

 

[Rowsdower!]

Quite a few people have missed the point. In Old Joe's original timeline, Joe had nothing at all to do with the creation of the Rainmaker. Cid became the Rainmaker in the original timeline because he did not accept Sara as his real mother. Her believed Sara's sister was his real mother and he did in fact see her die(actually, he is responsible for her death, though it was accidental). He grew up angry and without any real connection with Sara, who he saw as a liar. It is Young Joe's interaction with Sara and Cid in the new timeline that begins to repair the relationship between Sara and Cid. Sara faces up to abandoning Cid and Cid is finally able to accept that Sara is his real mother and that she does indeed love him. At this point, Cid would start down a path where he would grow up in a loving environment and not become the Rainmaker. At the end, Young Joe realizes that if Old Joe kills Sara, the timeline will basically revert back to what it was. Having just accepted Sara and then watching her die, Cid would probably go on to be an even worse version of the Rainmaker. By killing himself, Young Joe prevents this and creates a new future for Cid where he grows up in a loving environment and where the Rainmaker will never exist.

Ah. Well, that does make some sense. However, it still doesn't explain why the Rainmaker was so focused on killing all the Loopers in the future. I guess it could just be coincidence, though.

 

[chaseter]

So they couldn't stop him in the past?

 

[dark_b]

Johnson's pitch reei
http://www.slashfilm.com/watch-rian...ing-early-alternate-dialogue-and-darker-tone/

 

[DarthMuppet]

So they couldn't stop him in the past?

This is it.

 

[Alexei Belyakov]

Watched it again tonight. Such a brilliant film. Bravo, Mr. Johnson.

 

[gohei_]

So they couldn't stop him in the past?

Well the ones in his timeline are retired killers, and they aren't the ones in control of time-travel. If he wanted to make sure that no one stops him in the past he should just get rid of the crimebosses who control time-travel, or just destroy the time machine itself.

 

[DarthMuppet]

Well the ones in his timeline are retired killers, and they aren't the ones in control of time-travel. If he wanted to make sure that no one stops him in the past he should just get rid of the crimebosses who control time-travel, or just destroy the time machine itself.

He's not so much worried about the retired versions trying to physically stop him, but that the retired versions might do what Old Seth did and give their younger versions information about him before they were killed. He knows they have to be sent back eventually, so he wants to retire the younger versions as quickly as possible.

Or you could look at it as him doing what he said he wanted to do when he was younger... stop bad things from happening. I'd say that what the Loopers were doing was pretty damn bad.

 

[DJ Kornphlake]

Really liked the movie, but both my dad and I were confused about one scene. After young Joe escapes the gat men and falls off the fire escape at his apartment, there's that montage sequence of the 30 years going by, and it starts off with him back in the field and shooting old Joe, who's bound and with a sheet over his head this time. Was that the original timeline or what?

 

[flickchick85]

Really liked the movie, but both my dad and I were confused about one scene. After young Joe escapes the gat men and falls off the fire escape at his apartment, there's that montage sequence of the 30 years going by, and it starts off with him back in the field and shooting old Joe, who's bound and with a sheet over his head this time. Was that the original timeline or what?

Yeah, that's Old Joe's timeline, which he was determined to change.

 

[747]

Looper is good and especially stylistically it's great, love the steady pacing and the minimalistic atmosphere. As always with Rian the editing and camera-work is very interesting and enthralling

As a whole I didn't think the movie was as fantastic as many others has claimed though. The story is cool, but also a bit messy. It feels like Rian brings up too many things and nothing really lands anywhere. There is many plot-points I like but that never get anywhere. The tonal and story shift after half the movie doesn't help either. I liked both parts but think it would have worked better if one got a bit more time, making the focus clearer.

Now even though it scratches on the surface a bit too much, the movie is still always interesting, cliffhanging and visually immersive.

7/10 or 3/5

 

[War Party]

This movie's greatest accomplishment was sparking endless debate between my girlfriend and I. She normally doesn't get into movies but we went on for days about this. Great flick!

 

[Brother Jack]

Saw this movie this past weekend. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Was not expecting it to be quite as dark as it was, because man do a lot of the characters in this do some terrible things. Particularly Old Joe who up until a certain point was presented as the more virtuous iteration of the two Joes. It was a very good and disturbing role-reversal and an original riff on the protagonist/antagonist. I'll have to catch it again to fully grasp everything it was trying to do.

 

[baby_webhead]

Sorry because I haven't read through this thread. You've probably all talked about this stuff but i wanted to share what I understood about the movie.

 

[CrypticOne]

When the little kid said, "Momma." I teared up. HAHA! I don't know why.

 

[Sparky9292]

Looper/Xmen Crossover

Would be fun to see Jean Grey (In Phoenix form) vs Rainmaker. Who would win?

 

[KTKomedy2813]

I feel it's a strong contender for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Visual Effects, it's that good. Personally, there's a lot to love and/or like about this film, and for the first R-rated film I've seen in theaters, it's a masterpiece of creative storytelling and shows how you can wisely use visual effects so they support the story of the film.

PS: When I saw this in the cinema, minutes before seeing the film itself, I actually saw the Looper trailer play in the middle of the previews. Did anyone experience that?

 

[Baramos]

I like that visual explanation of the time loops, especially since it creates an infinity symbol. Joe collapses it by killing himself at the end of the movie.

I gave it a 9. I probably would have given it a 7 or 8 but I've seen so many bad movies in recent years that when one is even mildly exemplary I tend to think it should just be given a ton of hype by everyone and lauded as a new Sci-fi classic.

 

[Asr]

I saw this movie the other day, thought it was really good. Probably one of my favorites this year. I'd rate it maybe 8/10.

It was definitely entertaining to watch JGL trying to mimic Bruce Willis' mannerisms, from the eye & mouth movements to the body language. I thought JGL did a pretty good job acting like Willis.

I really liked Emily Blunt in the movie too, she did a great job, and she was totally hot too. One of the scenes I couldn't help but laugh at was when she was turning herself on and wanted to have sex - that was totally random and felt unnecessary, yet I wanted to see more.

This was probably the best acting I've seen from JGL too - IMO better than in TDKR, where he didn't really do much.

 

[TheGuy]

Saw this last night on the opening evening. Cinema was not very full. But then there has not been much in the way of marketing in the UK.

Really wanted to like this film. But in all honesty, I came away feeling quite unimpressed.

I don't think enough time was spent developing the main character. Especially in his older years. So therefore I had virtually no empathy with "old Joe" and I am sure the audience was supposed to. Especially with what he was doing after coming back.

What happened at the end in the field, I saw coming from a mile off, which was somewhat disappointing. Whether that means I am clever or the filmmakers were obvious, I don't know.

Perhaps this film will improve to me with repeated viewings, but that will have to wait until the Blu-Ray comes out.

As I said, I really wanted to like this film. From what I previously read about it, I was hoping for something deep and meaningful like Moon. But it fell short of that.

It's heart was in the right place, but the execution was flawed.

Effort: 8.5 / 10
Execution: 6 /10

Joseph Gordon-Levitt was really channelling a younger Bruce Willis though. I was impressed with that. Makeup used on JGL was subtle and did make him resemble Bruce in his younger days to a degree.

Exactly how I felt. Gonna watch it tomorrow again. Lots of processing went in my mind, and it threw me off the movie.

 

[Alien Anal]

I just finished watching it and think its easily one of my fav movies of the year.

I was wondering if anyone else noticed what i think could be a nod to Terminator 2.
The scene i am talking about is the one where Young Joe is running away from the Gat guys and jumps on the future bike and has trouble starting it before getting away in time.

 

[dark_b]

How Looper Should Have Ended

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qncm0hTPriE