222, Looper

Apologies - this will be off of most cinema screens by now but I've been on my autumn break and only just getting round to catching up on recent movie blogs, sorry!

Anyway - those that did go and see this movie like me would probably have been expecting another churned out action flick with Bruce Willis blowing up stuff, being hunted down by bad guys and yawn at the prospect of yet another ploddy story line which sees some old guy take out much younger, more agile goons with comparable ease when in reality - he would be far more suited to a pension queue rather than a fight sequence.

Well, luckily - Looper ads a new twist and a plot not seen yet which did show off Willis as the older, less agile hero - but using technique, experience & wit over brute strength and agileness.  The story tracks a Looper, an assassin who takes out targets from the future who get sent back through time (illegally) and disposed off, leaving the future population with no trace.  Sounds complicated?  Well don't fear - its well explained as to the process and they take a good 10 minutes going through the logistics so you wont be baffled for too long.

The plot - sees Looper Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) poised to make yet another killing as his target is set to reappear but who actually turns up is an older version of himself (Willis) - so, we have a small dilemma.  Killing ones self is a message from the future that your time is up, retired - finished.  You get a healthy gold payout, strapped to the back of your now dead self and the freedom to live out the rest of your days (albeit now numbered) in substantial luxury or, let yourself escape - a cardinal sin!

Well, Willis, being the smarter, older Joe knows this and isn't ready to die yet, not for either himself or his younger alter ego and doesn't want an end date stamped on his future so makes a break for it and manages to succeed.  Roll out the rest of the story with the two Joe's working as much together as they are apart to try and take down a system that neither much believe in any more as well as the slight problem of two Joe's running around - throw in a love interest for Levitt also as well as a secondary story line of what would have happened to Joe had he killed himself which does add another level of depth and you have a not seen before story that I really enjoyed.

The addition of Emily Blunt as the roughneck farm belle who captures Levitt's affections is brilliant and both Levitt and Willis play this one perfectly.  My only criticism, there are some long, drawn out scenes that slow down the pace but on the whole - its an enjoyable look at something you wouldn't have seen before. 

Sadly though this movie does open up a question - Doc Brown from Back to the Future II clearly stated (and I quote) "Coming face to face with herself 30 years older would put her into shock and she'd simply pass out. Or two, the encounter could create a time paradox, the results of which could cause a chain reaction that would unravel the very fabric of the space time continuum, and destroy the entire universe! Granted, that's a worse case scenario. The destruction might in fact be very localized, limited to merely our own galaxy"

Phew, luckily Jennifer only fainted otherwise it would have been carnage but Joe didnt? Neither did the world end so sorry Doc - you got that one slightly wrong!