Movie Review: Looper

After all of the hype surrounding Rian Johnson’s ‘Looper’ it shot up my to see list quickly. I was a fan of ‘Brick’ and even enjoyed ‘Brothers Bloom.’ However, when I went to the theater today and was faced with a choice between ‘Looper’ and Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘The Master’ I never thought I would choose Johnson over Anderson. But I did. And I did not regret it.

The film isn’t the next coming of ‘Blade Runner’ that some keep buzzing about. There are some truly funny moments, but there are also characters that stick out for being a bit too goofy (such as The Kid). They don’t ruin the movie by any means, but they definitely took it down a notch.

It is a rather small complaint in an otherwise awesome film. It has the best sound design of any film I have seen in a long time. Johnson’s script moves at a brisk pace – which is good in time travel movies so you can’t spend time poking holes in everything. Joseph Gordon-Levitt really shines here. I’ve been a fan for a while, and this may be his best performance yet. Also on display is excellent world building. Johnson doesn’t beat us over the head with concepts… He subtly weaves in aspects of his depiction of the future.

See this movie. In a theater.

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