Movie Reaction: Looper

Formula: Back to the Future +Léon: The Professional

To Sum Things Up: 

I fucking loved this movie.

Cast: I almost get tired of saying this, but Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the shit. Bruce Willis is fantastic and, at times, heartbreaking. Emily Blunt makes me like her more and more with each thing I see her in. Jeff Daniels is in it, but not used a lot. It's good to see him though. This is really one of those casts that appears designed to make me love it. Oh, there's also a cute little kid who is asked to do a lot more than he should be able to do at his age and pulls it off completely.

Plot: Let's just say it is way more than the previews make it out to be. I ate up every second of it. It's not a spoilery type of movie, but it's hard to talk about it outside of the proper context. It's all one big examination of morality thrown in the middle of a pretty spot-on action movie. It is hard to watch at some points. These are not good people and they don't always do good things. It doesn't shy away from it either. I don't want to give anything away, but I will say that the ending made me feel really stupid.

Direction: I don't normally note direction because I don't always see it when I'm watching. I wanted to note it here though. Rian Johnson has a lot of good touches that I don't see often. I'm not sure of all the technical terms for what he did, so I'll just say I really enjoyed his direction. The world of the movie is very lived-in and developed. It's actually a shame that this isn't the beginning of a series because there's a lot to be explored and there's always the sense that a lot more is going on than what we are seeing.

Elephant in the Room: Joseph Gordon-Levitt is supposed to look like Bruce Willis? Yeah, and they do a great job with that. The previews I'd seem made it look a little hokey, but they did a great job with JGL's makeup to where they do some closeups on the two is it is completely believable that one becomes the other. Also, I'm credited JGL for miming Bruce Willis' entire demeanor (since Bruce Willis basically plays one of the commonly seen shades of himself).

In Case I Wasn't Clear:

I loved this movie. Several times while I was watching it, I pulled back and told myself "I am really loving this". I don't know if it is for everyone or even everyone who wants to see it since there is a lot more to it than the previews suggest. For me though, I thought the casting is impeccable, with everyone bringing their A games. The story is very well crafted. The actions is tight and not needlessly excessive. It's one that I immediately wanted to talk to anyone who has seen it so we could dissect it. I am so glad that I saw this.

Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend