When Rian Johnson's Looper was released, it was universally loved. The site loved it, fans loved it, and I loved it as well. When I watched the film, I liked it, but I never watched it again. I did that for the 10-year anniversary of the movie and discovered that time has made it better. Things that used to be hard to understand are now easy to understand. The characters used to be black and white. It was no surprise that Johnson went on to such amazing things after the film. He has been crushing it for many years. The best thing about rewatching Looper for its 10th anniversary was discovering it again. I remembered it was about time travel, but I didn't know who was in it. Johnson's blend of time- travel logic and crime thriller was very exciting to rediscover. The simple fact is that Joe is a killer in the present who will kill people in the future. They are forced to kill themselves and then live the rest of their lives waiting for death. The film turned on its head when the older Joe escaped younger Joe. We followed young Joe until we followed old Joe. The Bruce Willis version of the character lived a life before he was sent back through time. There are a lot of loops in the film, another realization that hit home this time, as both Joes are on the run from a crime boss Abe and Kidblue.
The supporting cast of those two actors was well ahead of its time. It had been a long time since I had seen the film and I forgot that Sara was in it. Emily Blunt appears in a movie out of the blue. It's always a great thing. When young Joe meets Sara, the film takes yet another turn and we see young Joe's life story begin in a different way. Once everything comes to a head, things get tender and intense.
A truly terrifying scene where Dano's character is mutilated off screen and his older version begins losing body parts is one of the amazing effects of the film. As Joe gets older, his memories shift and he becomes blurry. Every move young Joe makes, he gets further and further away from the love of his life, which is frightening for old Joe.
The care Johnson has put into writing his characters and the actors who portray them is what makesLooper feel timeless. Both versions of Joe are bad guys. They are neither bad guys. One acting bad because he wants to be good and the other acting good because he wants to stop being bad The experience of having two half heroes and half villains at odds makes the content rewardingly dense. The film exhibits that same complexity with Kidblue, who at first is portrayed as a menacing presence but, as the film progresses, we see all these other levels in the character. Sara isn't cut and dry. She is very willing to throw everything away for the right reason, but she is also very strong and confident.
Even the film's final reveal, where young Joe realises the only way to free the future from the terrors of the Rainmaker is to kill himself, seems simpler now than it was. I sat down and talked to Johnson for 10 minutes about all of the time travel stuff from the movie. Here, you can watch it. Some of the hypotheticals we discuss are still interesting, but I now find most of it unnecessary. When the end is clear, do the how and whys matter? Young Joe made that decision. What happens next isn't important. He finished old Joe's mission by closing his own loop. It feels like a perfect ending. Is the ending more powerful after 10 years of shoving time travel, multiverse, sci-fi, superheroes down my throat? It might be possible. Nevertheless, it is wonderful.
I will not allow Looper to linger in the next decade. It is a film that deserves to be seen and appreciated more than I have seen in the last decade. It was gratifying to rediscover its magic and enjoy it on a new level. We will find out where the loop leads.
There is a movie on the streaming service.
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