Hello my fellow viewers, as you guys might have already expected this, this post will be my first ever post on the movie review section, with loads of reviews to come in the near future. I have chosen Looper as my first movie review, partly because it's science fiction, partly because it has also received a lot of attention. Again, as the same for my game reviews, I have five basis which I rely on to determine how successive a movie is; Plot, Music, Graphic, Pace, and Replay Value. A friendly reminder that there will be spoilers in this review. Let the theory-crafting begin.
Plot
( 8/10 )
( 8/10 )
Of all the things I want to say, I can sum it all up in one word, confusing. Messing around with time travel tends to have that effect. First off, we were introduced to a guy named Joe, and his job is a looper. What he does is he shoots victims and disposes of them when the people from the future sends the victims to the past through a portal in front of him. Now, this is already confusing enough as it is. Even more confusing, is that the people from the future would send the future self of the looper, so that the looper will unknowingly shoot himself, essentially 'ending' their contract.
This is one hell of a concept, but it has it's flaws. In fact, a lot more flaws than you care to think about. First off, the time travel itself. The story showed that the time travel machine was invented, and the mobs used it to send their victims back in time to be executed. That didn't make a lot of sense to me. You could kill the victim at the present time, sending him or her back to the past doesn't change the fact that the victim will die in 30 years time, as shown in the movie itself, so I don't think there is a point in sending them back to the past.
Secondly, the time machine is owned by the mob, and only by the mob presumably, since time travel is illegal. Well, that didn't stop the mob from doing what they were doing. The story itself did not really expand on the implications of time travel on that universe. What I mean is, the only thing I know is that the mob rules everything in the future. They did not talk about the government, the police, the people who had to live with it when time travel becomes a part of their lives, from both present and future.
Thirdly, the mob has a f**king time travel machine, and all they ever did with it was sending victims back to the past to get executed. I have to say, this is the most naive and short-sighted mob I have ever seen. If I were the mob boss, I would have sent all my people to the past, equipped with advanced weaponry and armor, and no one would be able to stop me from taking what I want. Based on the movie, there were more than one time machine too, either that or the objects could be teleported to different locations. I would be able to change everything, the future is in my hands, but nope, let's just use it to send victims back because my own cronies here are too cowardly to pull the trigger themselves. So much potential, all wasted.
Next, they did not also elaborate more on the telekinetics in the movie. 10% of the population has the ability to move things with their mind, and it is somehow related to time travel, or not. Telekinetics can also be interpreted as bending time and space to your will. Is it necessary to include telekinetics in the movie? Yes, because we learned that the boy Joe was trying to rescue from old Joe was a powerful telekinetic, and thus is essential to the plot. At the same time, if the boy does not have any telekinetic powers, does it change the overall main plot of the story? Not really. Joe would still protect the boy, and old Joe would still hunt the boy down, because that boy will become the Rainmaker. Do you get it? Old Joe wanted to kill the boy not because he was a telekinetic, but because he will become the Rainmaker. Maybe part of becoming the Rainmaker is the telekinetic powers, maybe because of his powers, he managed to create time machines then. So, let me ask this simple question, is telekinetics connected to time travel? We will never know.
And now we reached the ending of the movie, and I was genuinely surprised it ended that way. Although it could definitely happen, I never thought of it somehow, and I certainly did not expect it to turn out that way. I am talking about Joe killing himself to save the boy and the mother. I'm not sure if Joe was confident that his older self will disappear into thin air once he killed himself, but he certainly doesn't have the time to think it through. Old Joe even had some time to wonder what happened to him and looked back before he was... gone. Gone, just like that. I can't believe I'm saying this, but this scene made the most sense. If they do it any other way, like him exploding, or burst into flames, get sucked into a time portal, it would have been too cheesy. Actually come to think of it, it's not that surprising at all why Joe would kill himself. If I knew one day I would grow up to become Bruce Willis, I would have killed myself too.
Overall, I think it's a good plot. Fair amount of suspense, a lot of fast-paced action scenes, and a good ending. It's not a mindf**k ending as a lot of science fiction movies tend to do, but it's more of an ending that lets the audience feel satisfied.
Music
( 6/10 )
I don't think the music was particulary impressive in this movie, although it doesn't need to. All it has to do is to compliment the plot with matching tunes, and it did. But some awesome music wouldn't be bad either, especially a theme song for the movie. I'll let this one slide.
Graphic
( 4/10 )
The graphics in this case would be the futuristic designs shown in the movie. The blunderbuss, basically a shotgun, was not really advanced looking, it just looks different. The time machine itself doesn't look impressive either. The whole movie was set in two locations, the city that Joe lives in, and the corn farm, so not much to talk about there. Nothing special about the costumes either, except maybe the old man whom the mob sent from the future to take charge of the current mob. That dude always wears a red velvet robe wherever he goes, nobody wears red velvet robes nowadays. Except ladies who want to be sexy, but that is not the point. Nope.
They should have more designs or concept art that are futuristic, or at the least eye-catching since this is a science fiction movie. Instead, its just the same old world, except with eye drops and time machines. Not impressed.
Pace
( 6/10 )
The pace was slow to build up in the movie. Before Joe met his older self, the story was showing Joe being addicted to eye drops, partying all night every night, and sleeping with hookers. I understand that the story needs to build up before the suspense sets in, but all I felt was it doesn't concern the plot, so I shouldn't be concerned as well. The action was fast paced and exciting in this movie, the scene where the boy freezes time and rips people to shreds from his mind was cool as well. I think the weak point will be on the suspense itself, it almost seems non-existent to me. Yeah, that's how it felt like. The whole movie feels like a video documentary about Joe rather than a thrilling science fiction movie.
Replay Value
( 6/10 )
This movie would get even more boring after you found out about the ending, but with that being said, this is sort of a light movie that everyone can enjoy once in a while. No need to watch previous episodes to understand it, no need to think too much about the concept, no need to go Google after watching the ending, just relax and enjoy watching the movie itself.
Verdict
( 6/10 )
I was expecting a higher grade myself since the movie did receive generally good reception from the general audience. I appreciate that the director made a science fiction movie with time travel mixed in, but to me it was fine. Not great, not awful, just fine. Watch it if you're a science fiction fan.
Author :
And now we reached the ending of the movie, and I was genuinely surprised it ended that way. Although it could definitely happen, I never thought of it somehow, and I certainly did not expect it to turn out that way. I am talking about Joe killing himself to save the boy and the mother. I'm not sure if Joe was confident that his older self will disappear into thin air once he killed himself, but he certainly doesn't have the time to think it through. Old Joe even had some time to wonder what happened to him and looked back before he was... gone. Gone, just like that. I can't believe I'm saying this, but this scene made the most sense. If they do it any other way, like him exploding, or burst into flames, get sucked into a time portal, it would have been too cheesy. Actually come to think of it, it's not that surprising at all why Joe would kill himself. If I knew one day I would grow up to become Bruce Willis, I would have killed myself too.
Overall, I think it's a good plot. Fair amount of suspense, a lot of fast-paced action scenes, and a good ending. It's not a mindf**k ending as a lot of science fiction movies tend to do, but it's more of an ending that lets the audience feel satisfied.
Music
( 6/10 )
I don't think the music was particulary impressive in this movie, although it doesn't need to. All it has to do is to compliment the plot with matching tunes, and it did. But some awesome music wouldn't be bad either, especially a theme song for the movie. I'll let this one slide.
Graphic
( 4/10 )
The graphics in this case would be the futuristic designs shown in the movie. The blunderbuss, basically a shotgun, was not really advanced looking, it just looks different. The time machine itself doesn't look impressive either. The whole movie was set in two locations, the city that Joe lives in, and the corn farm, so not much to talk about there. Nothing special about the costumes either, except maybe the old man whom the mob sent from the future to take charge of the current mob. That dude always wears a red velvet robe wherever he goes, nobody wears red velvet robes nowadays. Except ladies who want to be sexy, but that is not the point. Nope.
They should have more designs or concept art that are futuristic, or at the least eye-catching since this is a science fiction movie. Instead, its just the same old world, except with eye drops and time machines. Not impressed.
Pace
( 6/10 )
The pace was slow to build up in the movie. Before Joe met his older self, the story was showing Joe being addicted to eye drops, partying all night every night, and sleeping with hookers. I understand that the story needs to build up before the suspense sets in, but all I felt was it doesn't concern the plot, so I shouldn't be concerned as well. The action was fast paced and exciting in this movie, the scene where the boy freezes time and rips people to shreds from his mind was cool as well. I think the weak point will be on the suspense itself, it almost seems non-existent to me. Yeah, that's how it felt like. The whole movie feels like a video documentary about Joe rather than a thrilling science fiction movie.
Replay Value
( 6/10 )
This movie would get even more boring after you found out about the ending, but with that being said, this is sort of a light movie that everyone can enjoy once in a while. No need to watch previous episodes to understand it, no need to think too much about the concept, no need to go Google after watching the ending, just relax and enjoy watching the movie itself.
Verdict
( 6/10 )
I was expecting a higher grade myself since the movie did receive generally good reception from the general audience. I appreciate that the director made a science fiction movie with time travel mixed in, but to me it was fine. Not great, not awful, just fine. Watch it if you're a science fiction fan.
Author :
SALMON
