LOOPER Movie Review
By: Ursula
A well written, acted, and filmed movie has the capability of baiting you like a fish. It has the potential of then hooking, reeling in, and drop kicking you into a cold bucket left to bleed all over. I say this because I left the theater a half an hour ago (from viewing Looper) and my heart is still in my throat. It left me feeling like I should just let out a good sob for all of mankind. Looper, written and directed by Rian Johnson, a science fiction time travel film, shows that humanity is frail, and the heart when jump started has the potential to cause ravenous behavior to hold on to that feeling of love. However, when men choose power over humanity it is because they have no hope in it. When they choose money over their best friend’s life, it is because no one has ever stuck around long enough to give a crap for them. This is the message behind Looper. We learn the value of humanity at a very young age. This fact is often overlooked. I always repeat a saying that I once read, "When in doubt, choose the children." In other words, teach the children the value of humanity. If we wait for them to simply witness its ugliness, it could be too late.
Is humanity repairable? Can one person make a difference in time travel to change the whole wicked collapse of the future? What are the motives behind time travel? If you choose to change the future by altering it, will you alter it for yourself, or will you choose everyone else? Has humanity gone so far as to be completely selfish? Do we look out for our neighbor, our friend, our sister, brother, mother, father, or do we look out for numbero uno? I believe in most cases we do look out for ourselves, if not to protect ourselves then just simply to just keep everyone else at bay.
The main characters were impacted by the collapse of the family, in turn making them unstable and vulnerable to make the wrong choices. When people in power make the wrong choices, it affects all the little people. We see this happen every day with our bosses, politicians, CEO’s, spouses, principals, even teachers. The messages that come through in the end and influence people both big and small, come from the top. Whoever ends up at the top usually steps on toes to get there. Why do all the good people get stepped on along the way? Usually it is because they are not clever enough to be deceitful, or because they are not mean enough to manipulate people. None of these scenarios are necessarily fair, many, when witnessing wrong doing, simply look the other way. However, when given the opportunity, it is important to listen to the good ole conscience. What makes a person weak is not standing up for what they really believe in, and not looking out for the people around them, no matter what the cost.
Joseph Simmons, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis, is stuck in a heartless empty job, one that does not value human life, a hired hit man for silver. He is in a monotonous day that seems to play out the same every day forever, one that involves a kill, then a fast car to a nightclub to get high, dance to a few tunes and then go home to do it all over again. His only dream is to move to France with his earnings. For what? We are not sure, possibly the high fashion(he is a spiffy dresser). He knows his turn will come up, to close the loop of his life, meaning killing the older version of him, take his money, and looking the other way via Air France. Along the way he is challenged with the value of humanity and his plan starts to spring leaks everywhere. Will he choose himself or humanity?
What I loved about the film is that I never knew what would happen next. Whenever time travel is introduced, it has the potential to twist and turn, like a good amusement park ride. This did just that, but it was more like Space Mountain, in that you did not know what the next turn looked like. I can always appreciate an original story, one that keeps me on my toes and leaves me feeling emotionally charged and reflective.
Please Leave A Comment-
Comments