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| The fly on his ceiling was really pissing him off |
It's reached that time of year when your bones start to get
cold. I'm back at Uni. Back in a house where having the central heating on
is about as likely as a Green Hornet sequel. Student Finance still haven't pulled their finger out so funds
remain alarmingly low. Fortunately Orange Wednesday tickets at the Savoy are a meager £1.75. Pow.
On the specials board this week was Rian Johnson's
Sci-Fi/Thriller combo "Looper" starring what appeared to
be Joseph Gordon-Levitt (with two boiled eggs in his mouth) opposite
the indefatigable Bruce Willis. The premise sounded oh-so
fresh. Gangsters, guns and time travel; well that's not something
you come across everyday is it? I was in the mood to be
impressed. Question is- did it deliver?
Let’s reflect...
One of the things the film does beautifully is set the scene.
There is a mega-fine blend of technological advance and urban decay on show
which paints a wholly convincing picture of the not too distant future. The
film maintains a Noir-ish aesthetic whilst effortlessly slipping in little
futuristic contraptions that go a long way to sexing it up. It's like finding a
boutique charity shop that's sells big shiny guns and hover-bikes. This fusion
of old and new is where Johnson's brain power is most evident;
mixing dilapidated clubs and futuristic drugs, having the characters
commit modern crimes with a Goodfellas-esque swagger; using iconic guns
(the shotgun and magnum) as the future criminal’s weapon of choice- the list
goes on and on. The film very cleverly evokes the past within the future.
It’s a beautiful technique.
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| Street warfare, Looper does Mafioso |
Whilst Looper's vision
of 2042 is bang on the money other aspects of the film fall a bit flat. So, uncharacteristically, I'm
going to start on a slightly negative note. Let’s just get these out the way.
Are you still here?
The persistent but ultimately useless "Kid Blue" (played
by Noah Segan) is an annoying screen presence whose ill fated attempts to
capture Joe quickly go from comical to tiresome. For me his character feels
poorly constructed and after the first 10 minutes I became confused as to why
he was playing such a big role. His credibility as a
cunning adversary is destroyed from the get-go, rendering his pursuit
of Joe(s) into a bit of a circus act. Admittedly, it does provide some decent
comedy moments (the diner shoot out) but after a while it's a bit of a "are
you still here" jobby. And here is an interesting question, why does
he go back for Joe after the whole mob has been disposed of? Surely it would have
been to his benefit to high tail it? I took great satisfaction when the weasel
met the wrong end of a shotgun.
Paul Dano is criminally
underused
The diverse actor plays ill fated looper "Seth" whose
inability to "close his loop" (kill his older self) results in his
early demise and, subsequently, acts as a pre-cursor for Joe’s woes. It is a
brilliant piece of casting because Dano's bean-pole physique and goofy
mannerisms show that the loopers aren't necessarily your stereotypical
gangsters; it's quite literally an anymans job in 2044. Well, anyone who is
willing to commit future-cide. His tense and fidgety presence is sorely missed
in the rest of the film as other, less deserving characters run amok. If only
they’d gave us 10 minutes more.
Right, moving out to some of the shit hot stuff...
Et tu, Brucey?
The chemistry between Gordon-Levitt and Willis is ace. They are
dynamic, funny and (I believe) whole-heartedly convincing as the same person.
The diner sequence is the pick of the bunch (a very Heat-esque moment) where they humorously attempt to clarify the
films puzzling plot.
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| I thought you were paying...? |
Gordon-Levitt is allowed to act outside of himself and takes to
the role of action hero with consummate ease. He nails some Brucey-esque
mannerisms and brings a certain amount of swagger to our under-explored
protagonist. His wide range of acting skills aren’t really put to the test but
this could be a career defining role for GL that sees him feature in a lot more
beefy Blockbusters. The Brucester’s role is a different kettle of fish.
In Looper we get what
has come to be expected from Willis; tough talking, a beady eyed stare, a few
quippy one liners and a large death toll. The shoot out in the final third
could almost be in homage to the bigman himself. At times he does exude more
subtle qualities- a sense of inner rage, a man lost by loss- but for the most
part he is an out and out action man. His child slaying mission provides his
character with an unconventional slant and puts cleverly places us against a
man we are used to championing.
Does the end live up to the start?
The first half of the film is mesmerising. It introduces us to a
morbidly fascinating world that is plagued by extreme violence and inequality,
yet it doesn't feel that alien to us. The hover bikes
and telekinetics offer a healthy serving of
futuristic cliché but nothing actually seems that far-fetched.
It's when we leave this Blade
Runner inspired environment that the pace takes a nose dive. The leap
from hard-boiled urban streets to in-the-middle-of-nowhere farmhouse is hugely
ambitious (and it nearly pays off) but it ultimately leaves the film feeling
slightly disjointed. That is not to say that these scenes are executed with any
less style or verve it's just that they have a completely different
feel. Emily Blunt plays "Sara" brilliantly, emanating a mixture
of toughness and vulnerability that makes her character diverse and
interesting. Her chemistry with the young Pierce Gagnon, who plays
"Cid", is also worth a special mention and their whole mother-son
relationship is engineered beautifully.
Johnson’s clever SciFi flick falls a little short of the Wachowski’s
Matrix but it’s still an absolute
corker. The plot is flawed but like Bruce Willis’ character says, “don’t think
about time travel, it’ll fry your brain like a fucking egg”. A film that has
this sort of scope is always going to have plot flaws, so I am reluctant to
chastise it on that front. In an industry where films are becoming increasingly
predictable Johnson and Co. have shown that originality can still fly on a
Blockbuster level. Thank you kind sirs.
4 Stars.
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