'Looper' Review Thread (Use Spoiler Tags)

[Walts Ghost]

Joseph Gordon Levitt and Bruce Willis Star in Time Travel Thriller 'Looper'

Rian Johnson’s The Brothers Bloom was my favorite film of last year and I can’t wait to see what he’ll do with his next movie, Looper. Production Weekly tweets that the film is set to go before cameras in January. That simply won’t do. I respect Johnson taking the time to make the best film possible, but January is like five months away and that’s way too long. The sooner Johnson can make the film, the sooner I can see it, and the happier I’ll be. I don’t know why Johnson is so dead set against my happiness.

The premise of Looper is slick. It’s about hitmen in the near-future who kill people that are sent back in time from the distant-future so that the target can’t inconvenience the distant-future person who put out the contract. The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis playing the younger and older versions of the same person, respectively. I suppose it’s good to have a timetable (and it’s not a total surprise since Gordon-Levitt told Steve that he expected it to shoot early next year). But I hate the wait. I guess a double-feature of Brick and The Brothers Bloom will ease my sadness.

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[Walts Ghost]

Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s LOOPER Make-Up Designed to Resemble Bruce Willis

In Rian Johnson‘s upcoming sci-fi action film Looper, Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Joe, a looper (a hitman who kills people sent back in time by mobs in the future) who eventually has to face-off against his future self (played by Bruce Willis). When casting was announced, we didn’t really think twice about the two actors not resembling each other. It was simple suspension of disbelief. But Johnson is having none of that. The Brick director tells the LA Times that Gordon-Levitt will be spending three hours a day in a make-up chair and wear practical prosthetics to resemble the older actor.

So how is Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing Bruce Willis beyond wearing prosthetics? Johnson explains to the LA Times:

That sounds incredibly cool and I’m curious to see if Gordon-Levitt pulled it off.

Johnson also mentioned how time travel relates to Looper‘s plot:

I would also presume that Willis’ character has the advantage since he would know everything his younger self would do. The wait till September feels like an eternity.

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That's badass! I can't wait.

[Monkey]

Van Damme needs to be in this

[Blu Ian]

I'm ok with this.

JGL and Willis.

[MykeHavoc]

I immediately thought of Terminator when I read the synopsis, but at least the director makes the reference right off the bat. It certainly sounds interesting and like something I'd enjoy. Plot-wise though: wouldn't there be an issue with Willis going back in time and killing himself at a younger age? As in he would never grow old to go back in time to kill himself. I know there are different variants on time-travel stories, but it strikes me that a plot-point such as that would immediately catch a lot of people and perhaps take away from the experience, unless they right off the bat set up a genius reinterpretation of time-travel logic.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by MykeHavoc

I immediately thought of Terminator when I read the synopsis, but at least the director makes the reference right off the bat. It certainly sounds interesting and like something I'd enjoy. Plot-wise though: wouldn't there be an issue with Willis going back in time and killing himself at a younger age? As in he would never grow old to go back in time to kill himself. I know there are different variants on time-travel stories, but it strikes me that a plot-point such as that would immediately catch a lot of people and perhaps take away from the experience, unless they right off the bat set up a genius reinterpretation of time-travel logic.

You've got it the wrong way, it's JGL being sent to kill Bruce Willis, plus we don't know what will happen, I'm predicting this will have a bit of an ace up it's sleeve

[MykeHavoc]

Ah ha, I see. They only made mention of traveling back in time, so I didn't even think of that. Sounds confusing and interesting.

[Walts Ghost]

I took it as they're both chasing the same killer together, not each other.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by Walts Ghost

I took it as they're both chasing the same killer together, not each other.

It says in the opening sentence of the article you wrote that they have to "Face-off" and in the final line it says Bruce Willis knows all of his younger self's moves, suggesting they are pitted against each other.

[vegeta88]

Originally Posted by Walts Ghost

I took it as they're both chasing the same killer together, not each other.

I didn't take it as them being against each other either. The movie does sound damn awesome though.

[Walts Ghost]

Originally Posted by Foggy

It says in the opening sentence of the article you wrote that they have to "Face-off" and in the final line it says Bruce Willis knows all of his younger self's moves, suggesting they are pitted against each other.

I didn't write it. and everything I've read until now suggests they're working together. Guess we'll wait and find out,

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by Walts Ghost

I didn't write it. and everything I've read until now suggests they're working together. Guess we'll wait and find out,

I think them going against each other would make a more complex and interesting film, plus the title Looper suggests that it would make a time loop of him going against himself.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by Walts Ghost

I didn't write it. and everything I've read until now suggests they're working together. Guess we'll wait and find out,

I think them going against each other would make a more complex and interesting film, plus the title Looper suggests that it would make a time loop of him going against himself.

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by Foggy

I think them going against each other would make a more complex and interesting film, plus the title Looper suggests that it would make a time loop of him going against himself.

I took it as his older self being sent back so his younger self can kill him just like they do with the other people they want him to kill.

Anyways, the movie does sound pretty awesome. Joseph and Bruce both being in it helps as well.

[Walts Ghost]

Found the article I was talking about earlier regarding if they're going to be after each other:

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in negotiations to re-team with his Brick director Rian Johnson for the sci-hi hitman flick Looper and David Koepp’s chase movie Premium Rush. Heat Vision says “Looper is set during a future in which time travel has been invented, with operatives sent back to the present to assassinate criminals. Gordon-Levitt will play a man sent back to kill himself.” However, on his Twitter page, Johnson says that’s the exact opposite of the film. Johnson explains that, “hit men are sent their victims from crime orgs in the future.” But what does he know? He’s just the writer and director. In all seriousness, it sounds like an awesome premise and Gordon-Levitt has shown himself as one of the most reliable actors out there.

So Johnson says it's not that at all. I'll take him at his word about it. And here's a little more:

"Looper is a time travel movie, set in a near future where time travel doesn't exist but will be invented in a few decades. It's pretty dark in tone, much different from Bloom, and involves a group of killers (called Loopers) who work for a crime syndicate in the future. Their bosses send their targets hogtied and blindfolded back in time to the Loopers, and their job is to simply shoot them in the head and dispose of the body. So the target vanishes from the future and the Loopers dispose of a corpse that doesn't technically exist, a very clean system. Complications set in from there."

[ivanb06]

i want to see this now.

[MykeHavoc]

I'm trying to figure out why time travel is necessary. The mob disposes of bodies all the time without it

[ly000001]

This reminds me of a movie in development hell from a few years ago, where instead of time travel, cloning was the gimmick and the assassin (played by Harrison Ford) was being hunted by the younger version of himself, so it was a battle of youth vs. experience.

[bainbridge's_stache]

A couple of pics of JGL (with a hint of Bruno)





Larger pics

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[cinemaphile]

Originally Posted by ly000001

This reminds me of a movie in development hell from a few years ago, where instead of time travel, cloning was the gimmick and the assassin (played by Harrison Ford) was being hunted by the younger version of himself, so it was a battle of youth vs. experience.

I believe it was called Gemini Man or something like that