By Chris Kavan - 09/30/12 at 12:02 PM CT
Let's face it, we've been in a movie drought. Other than the limited releases success of The Master, there has been nary a bright cloud at the box office for a month. This week, however, Rian Johnson gave us hope in the form of a time-traveling action/sci-fi/thriller with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis playing the present and future Joe - the titular Looper. With all the sci-fi elements, it's easy to overlook the characters, so how does Looper fare?
The Official FilmCrave Staff Rating (Average): 2.83/4 Stars
Chris' Review 3/4: Looper
I have made no secret that I have been looking forward to Looper pretty much since I first heard about the concept. However, that kind of anticipation building up can often lead to being let down (it happened with John Carter and pretty much any remake I ever had a hope for). I'm happy to say, that while Looper is not without fault, it met my expectations. They managed to balance action, create compelling and well-developed characters and also an interesting story that was a good mix of near-future sci-fi and old-school mafia tactics. Like all sci-fi films dealing with a time travel aspect, you can pick out paradoxes, but if movies are supposed to be about entertainment, it did the trick. If you start analyzing too in depth, it kind of ruins the whole experience.
Nick's Review 3/4: Looper
Nick was also apparently happy to end the terrible movie drought, and thought Looper was a welcome reprieve in that department as well. As a more analytical person when it comes to time travel, he was impressed that Looper managed to avoid most of the paradoxical pitfalls that are common in these type of movies. Bout of sudden gore show up, but he was alright with that as well. The movie did lead to a somewhat predictable out come, but otherwise action/sci-fi fans will be pleased.
Alex's Review 2.5/4: Looper
Alex was just a half-star lower than both Nick and I, falling just short of "good" for him. His main issue is that the movie shared a bit too much in common with TIme Cop - the story and direction is much better, but it still contains cliched elements and the ending was a big letdown for him. While he also thought Gordon-Levitt showed promise as a future action star, he felt Willis was just getting too old for this kind of role. He did like the cinematography, but the music was forgettable. In the end, it just wasn't good enough to recommend watching in theaters, unless you are a hardcore action/sci-fi fan - and even then, your hopes might be dashed.
While the staff average stands at 2.83/4 the overall FilmCrave.com average (as of today) stands at 3.17/4. I think all three reviews combined agree this is a solid sci-fi/action film. None of us are saying it's perfect by any means and while Alex is a little more critical, his points are all valid. I think the ending of the film is going to be the point where people either think the film is genius or a letdown. Whether you see it in theaters or wait to see it at home, we're all in agreement, it is worth your time.
