Looper

[batman44]

Just came back from seeing it and thought it was fantastic. May even be my favorite movie of the year so far.

 

[jmc]

I saw this last night and I gotta say whilst it's a really good movie, there's something about it that I can't put my finger on that prevents it from being a great movie. The premise is different that is for sure, in fact the first act of the movie is by far the most interesting part of the entire film, and yet I feel as if more could have been done with the premise. I dunno, it became a bit of a regular old action movie after Bruce Willis escapes. I enjoyed it no doubt, but wasn't blown away by it. An 8/10 from me.

 

[Gianakin_]

But hey now! The Brothers Bloom was sweet, charming, entertaining, and filled with clever moments and dialogue. His weakest film, sure, but hardly a disaster in need of a "second chance," imo.

Yeah... didn't feel all that.

In all seriousness, even though Bloom didn't do anything for me at all, it's definitely not a film that would require of someone to give johnson a 2nd chance. Was just messing around, they guy's original and for that I applaud him every damn time.

 

[Vapor]

I thought it was stylish and well directed and I enjoyed the performance of JGL and the dynamic between him and Bruce. However, it started out interesting but once it got to the farm and focused on the kid, I felt like it started to trail off.... It would have been better to keep it focused on the 2 Joes and keep it in the city.

 

[BuddhaWasABat]

I saw this last night and I gotta say whilst it's a really good movie, there's something about it that I can't put my finger on that prevents it from being a great movie. The premise is different that is for sure, in fact the first act of the movie is by far the most interesting part of the entire film, and yet I feel as if more could have been done with the premise. I dunno, it became a bit of a regular old action movie after Bruce Willis escapes. I enjoyed it no doubt, but wasn't blown away by it. An 8/10 from me.

Pretty much sums up how I felt.

 

[chaseter]

I think the TK aspect is what stopped it from being a great movie. It just felt like two different genres combined. But, still liked it.

 

[yogamble]

I need some help here.So Rainmaker wants all loops closed why? Also, how does old Joe figure out those numbers again? In the movie it goes by so fast like when he's talking to the cop with the headset on and said cop blows up. Did the Abe work for the Rainmaker?

 

[Vapor]

I need some help here.So Rainmaker wants all loops closed why? Also, how does old Joe figure out those numbers again? In the movie it goes by so fast like when he's talking to the cop with the headset on and said cop blows up. Did the Abe work for the Rainmaker?

Spoiler

Abe works for an unspecified crime boses in the future. I don't think it's The Rainmaker, at least not when Abe was originally sent back in time, as it is said The Rainmaker came out of no-where and is taking over the future crime syndicates. Old Joe inputs the numbers into a computer/internet at a library and learns that they are the recorded dates of birth of 3 children who are potentially the Rainmaker. He learns which child it is through Young Joe realising. His new memores catch up with him. I would guess that the Rainmaker is closing all loops because, as he grew up, he realised/learnt that Joe was a Looper and that is was a Looper who killed his mum...

 

[Lencho01]

Johnson answers questions...

http://io9.com/5949973/looper-director-rian-johnson-is-live-on-io9-and-taking-your-questions

Interviews...

http://www.slashfilm.com/film-video...-and-director-of-looper-talks-major-spoilers/

http://www.slashfilm.com/filmcast-ep-202-a-morning-with-rian-johnson-director-of-looper/

 

[redhawk23]

http://io9.com/5949594/if-disney-had-made-looper-with-bruce-willis-and-joseph-gordon+levitt-in-1994 The existence of this video makes me so happy. When I first heard the premise of Looper and that Willis was cast and would be meeting his younger self, I couldn't help but joke that it was a gritty reboot of "The Kid." I am so glad I was not alone in making that connection.

 

[Axl Van Sixx]

Can anyone explain what happened during that scene when Bruce Willis tries to escape near the farmhouse? Joseph Gordon-Levitt cooperates with the Gat Men in trying to shoot Willis until he disappears into the crops - at which point JGL realizes that he's the next target and tries desperately to escape and the Gat Men turn on him. Why would the Gat Men not just shot JGL in the first place? It would have killed Old Joe - unless there's some kind of protocol against killing a younger version of a person before the older version is executed.

 

[Gianakin_]

Going for the bigger evil, I'd assume. Oldjoe is top priority, Youngjoe immediately below on that list.

 

[gohei_]

Well if they would kill young Joe then that would screw up the whole timeline, which I assume is the sole reason why you are being sent back and not just killed off in the present when all your hits are finished. Also I believe Kid Blue tells the goons that he wants young Joe alive.

 

[flickchick85]

Yeah, they didn't really want Young Joe dead. Abe warned them about changing the timeline too much (especially since it looked like Young Joe would eventually go on to do plenty of jobs for...someone even after he closed his loop).

 

[chaseter]

Something I noticed second go around and I believe was brought up in here...why did the rainmaker have a synthetic jaw in the future when the kid got shot in the cheek?

The answer is, which Emily Blunt said to JGL, wounds get infected easily on a farm. Had he rode the train to escape, his cheek would have got infected as he lived on his own.

 

[Rowsdower!]

I still like this movie, but the more I think about it, the problems with it become more glaring. One thing is the whole scenario with Paul Dano's character. Okay, so, they killed the future version of him so they wouldn't screw up the timeline, but they also cut the present day version of him up into pieces. If you're missing your nose, your fingers and your FEET, that's going to affect pretty much every aspect of your future. So even if he survived all that, they still changed the future. And if they did indeed kill the younger version of him, then why go through the trouble of luring the future version back? Just kill the young guy, and the problem is solved.

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.

 

[chaseter]

Mutilating young Paul Dano does less damage to the timeline than allowing old Paul Dano to run around in the past with his knowledge of the future. They will still send mutilated young Paul Dano back in time to be killed in 30 years but this time, he won't run away or sing...and the loop continues.

 

[terry78]

He didn't want to get bogged down like other movies do, because then situations like this, where we try to debate it start up. Willis basically lampshaded that whole thing in the diner.

 

[chaseter]

I was fine with the time travel stuff...he introduced a loop in time travel so each Looper's life is cyclical unless the loop is broken.

 

[-JKR-]

You know what I've noticed, both with this and "The Dark Knight Rises" earlier this summer. Most of the complaints from people are " how did this..?" or "how did that?", or "it wasn't what I expected", or "I didn't get how...". And I started thinking how most of the 1980s blockbusters, which are held pretty high generally, couldn't stand a chance in these days. People would start nagging about them infinitely.
I think people worry too much about real theories about time-travel, instead of considering how it works and comes together internally, in the narrative.
I've loved it, by the way.

 

[dark_b]

You know what I've noticed, both with this and "The Dark Knight Rises" earlier this summer. Most of the complaints from people are " how did this..?" or "how did that?", or "it wasn't what I expected", or "I didn't get how...". And I started thinking how most of the 1980s blockbusters, which are held pretty high generally, couldn't stand a chance in these days. People would start nagging about them infinitely.
I think people worry too much about real theories about time-travel, instead of considering how it works and comes together internally, in the narrative.
I've loved it, by the way.

with Nolan movies its his own fault. because everything needs to make sense

 

[-JKR-]

Not quite true. I think lot of people misinterpreted Christopher Nolan's intentions of 'realism.' It's the same realism of action fare such as Indiana Jones, James Bond and Die Hard. Which is giving texture and putting in some thought to the environment, and not having it based in a surreal fantasy world. Heck, he cited Dick Donner's Superman (SUPERMAN!) as a source of inspiration, with it having been shot mostly on location, in New York, and having a certain realistic (= trying to make incredible things credible) approach to the myth. No more, no less.

 

[The Epic Beyond]

My review of Looper if anyone is interested

 

[-JKR-]

I agree on lots of stuff; I, too, expected a completely different film. I thought it would be a cat and mouse thriller myself, and thought it would play out by having Young Joe and Old Joe join forces in the end to fight the organization, which is after them. Nice having trailers which didn't spoil the movie!

 

[Gianakin_]

with Nolan movies its his own fault. because everything needs to make sense

It's the fans' fault and their fault alone.