Sunday, September 30, 2012

I Loved Looper

We went and saw Looper yesterday.  I loved it.  Now, I hate to say that, given expectations play a large role in a movie - but it must be said.
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What surprised me was the pace of the story - maybe the whole story idea itself.
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Looper starts as a simple bang-bang / high octane / almost-action movie set in a "Blade Runner-esque" dystopian future.  And then it doubles back on itself, shoots off sideways into an epilogue-like what-happens-then story.  And then moves into a whole different Hitchcockian vibe for the last hour-ish.
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Now with that many "and thens", it isn't a quick movie.  It is longish, but long for story sake not long for more bang up action scenes (I'm looking at you Avengers) or long for more arts- fartsy scenes (I'm looking at you Master).
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There were only two things that tickled my mind and drew me out of the movie occasionally.  One was "where is that guy from" - and so you don't get lost in it yourself, he is the dad from Raising Hope.
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The second is the odd appearance of Joseph Gordon Levitt.  I think jgl is a good looking young man.  But in Looper, he has to look like a young Bruce Willis - so they added a lot of jaw.  It doesn't hurt his acting - his voice, eyes and carriage are so much a part of his set of tools - but it is distracting for a while.  I give you the changes below so you don't get hung up on them.