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Joe follows the map to a farmhouse owned by Sara Rollins ([[Emily Blunt|Blunt]]), who lives with her son, Cid. When Joe shows Sara the paper, Sara recognizes the digits as Cid's birthday and the serial number of the hospital where he was born. Three children were born in the hospital that day, and Old Joe intends to kill all three. As the two become close, Joe learns that Sara is a telekinetic, and that Cid was raised by Sara's sister for most of his life until she died, and that Cid suspects that Sara is not his real mother. One day they are visited and interrogated by Gat Man Jesse Goldhar, who is killed by Cid after Cid falls down the stairs and lets out a telekinetic blast, far beyond the normal power of a telekinetic, leading Joe to realize that Cid is the Rainmaker. Sara confirms that Cid inadvertently killed her sister when he lost control of his powers. Meanwhile, Old Joe is captured by Kid Blue.
Joe follows the map to a farmhouse owned by Sara Rollins ([[Emily Blunt|Blunt]]), who lives with her son, Cid. When Joe shows Sara the paper, Sara recognizes the digits as Cid's birthday and the serial number of the hospital where he was born. Three children were born in the hospital that day, and Old Joe intends to kill all three. As the two become close, Joe learns that Sara is a telekinetic, and that Cid was raised by Sara's sister for most of his life until she died, and that Cid suspects that Sara is not his real mother. One day they are visited and interrogated by Gat Man Jesse Goldhar, who is killed by Cid after Cid falls down the stairs and lets out a telekinetic blast, far beyond the normal power of a telekinetic, leading Joe to realize that Cid is the Rainmaker. Sara confirms that Cid inadvertently killed her sister when he lost control of his powers. Meanwhile, Old Joe is captured by Kid Blue.


Joe tells Sara and Cid to flee, surmising that his employers or Old Joe will target the farm. Meanwhile, Old Joe breaks free, killing Abe and all the Gat Men except for Kid Blue, and makes his way to the farm. As the two Joes confront each other, Kid Blue attacks but is killed by Joe. Old Joe then attempts to kill Cid, in a scene that may be traumatic to anyone who does not wish to see a child get shot in the face, prompting Cid to let out another telekinetic blast. However, before Cid can kill Old Joe, Sara calms him down by reassuring him that his mother is with him. Old Joe then tries to kill Cid again, but Sara stands between them. Joe realizes that if Old Joe kills Sara, it will cause Cid to become the Rainmaker in the future, creating a closed time loop. With Old Joe out of range, Joe shoots himself, erasing Old Joe from existence. Sara and Cid, now safe, take Joe's silver and return to their home.
Joe tells Sara and Cid to flee, surmising that his employers or Old Joe will target the farm. Meanwhile, Old Joe breaks free, killing Abe and all the Gat Men except for Kid Blue, and makes his way to the farm. As the two Joes confront each other, Kid Blue attacks but is killed by Joe. Old Joe then attempts to kill Cid, prompting Cid to let out another telekinetic blast. However, before Cid can kill Old Joe, Sara calms him down by reassuring him that his mother is with him. Old Joe then tries to kill Cid again, but Sara stands between them. Joe realizes that if Old Joe kills Sara, it will cause Cid to become the Rainmaker in the future, creating a closed time loop. With Old Joe out of range, Joe shoots himself, erasing Old Joe from existence. Sara and Cid, now safe, take Joe's silver and return to their home.


==Cast==
==Cast==

Revision as of 23:37, 21 December 2012

Looper
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRian Johnson
Written byRian Johnson
Produced by
Starring
CinematographySteve Yedlin
Edited byBob Ducsay
Music byNathan Johnson
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • September 6, 2012 (2012-09-06) (TIFF)
  • September 28, 2012 (2012-09-28) (United States)
Running time
118 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million[2]
Box office$166,334,953[3]

Looper is a 2012 American science fiction action film written and directed by Rian Johnson. The film stars Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Emily Blunt. In Looper, time travel is invented by the year 2074 and, though immediately outlawed, is used by criminal organizations to send those they want killed into the past where they are killed by "loopers", assassins paid with silver bars strapped to their targets. Joe, a looper, encounters himself when his older self is sent back in time to be killed.

Looper was selected as the opening film of the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival. It was released to positive reviews in Australia on September 27, 2012,[4] and in the U.S. and the U.K. on September 28, 2012 by TriStar Pictures and Alliance Films.[5][6]

In light of the December 2012 assault rifle massacre of 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School, filmgoers may appreciate being warned that Looper (which was released to iTunes one week after the shootings) contains a scene graphically depicting the shooting of a young child. Another scene strongly suggests the shooting death of another young child.

Plot

By 2044, the United States has suffered economic collapse, causing severe social decay and growth in organized crime. In addition, a strange mutation has occurred in 10% of the population, giving them limited telekinetic powers. In 2074 Time travel is invented, but is immediately outlawed. In addition, tracking technology has rendered it nearly impossible to dispose of bodies secretly, so when crime bosses want to eliminate a target they send them back to the past to be killed by "loopers": hired guns paid in silver to kill whoever is sent to them. When crime bosses want to end a looper's contract, they send the looper's future self back to be killed by his past self, called "closing the loop", where they are given gold instead of silver pay to retire for thirty years before being sent back in time to be killed.

In 2044, Joe Simmons (Gordon-Levitt) is a looper for a crime syndicate in Kansas. His boss, Abe (Daniels), was sent from the future to manage the loopers, and owns a club that Joe frequents, and where he spends time with Suzie (Perabo), a showgirl. Abe also controls his own group of enforcers, the "Gat Men", including the insecure Kid Blue (Segan), who is desperate to prove himself to Abe. One night, Joe's friend Seth Richards (Dano) visits him in a panic, telling him that he failed to close his loop when his future self was sent back. Before his future self escaped, he mentioned someone called the "Rainmaker": a mastermind who has taken over organized crime and is closing all loops for unknown reasons. Joe attempts to protect Seth, but betrays him to Abe instead of surrendering half of his silver. The mafia captures Seth and starts mutilating him so that the injuries will cripple his future self. Old Seth desperately turns himself in and is immediately killed.

Later, Joe is sent on another contract, but hesitates when he realizes the target is his future self, allowing him to escape. Later meeting in a diner, Old Joe (Willis) tells Joe that it was the Rainmaker who sent him back to be killed, and that his wife was killed during his capture. Old Joe killed his captors and sent himself back in time in an attempt to kill the Rainmaker as a child. Joe nevertheless tries to kill Old Joe and fulfill his contract, but both are forced to flee when they are attacked by the Gat Men. During the battle Joe tears off a scrap of a map Old Joe had, bearing a marked location and a string of digits.

Joe follows the map to a farmhouse owned by Sara Rollins (Blunt), who lives with her son, Cid. When Joe shows Sara the paper, Sara recognizes the digits as Cid's birthday and the serial number of the hospital where he was born. Three children were born in the hospital that day, and Old Joe intends to kill all three. As the two become close, Joe learns that Sara is a telekinetic, and that Cid was raised by Sara's sister for most of his life until she died, and that Cid suspects that Sara is not his real mother. One day they are visited and interrogated by Gat Man Jesse Goldhar, who is killed by Cid after Cid falls down the stairs and lets out a telekinetic blast, far beyond the normal power of a telekinetic, leading Joe to realize that Cid is the Rainmaker. Sara confirms that Cid inadvertently killed her sister when he lost control of his powers. Meanwhile, Old Joe is captured by Kid Blue.

Joe tells Sara and Cid to flee, surmising that his employers or Old Joe will target the farm. Meanwhile, Old Joe breaks free, killing Abe and all the Gat Men except for Kid Blue, and makes his way to the farm. As the two Joes confront each other, Kid Blue attacks but is killed by Joe. Old Joe then attempts to kill Cid, prompting Cid to let out another telekinetic blast. However, before Cid can kill Old Joe, Sara calms him down by reassuring him that his mother is with him. Old Joe then tries to kill Cid again, but Sara stands between them. Joe realizes that if Old Joe kills Sara, it will cause Cid to become the Rainmaker in the future, creating a closed time loop. With Old Joe out of range, Joe shoots himself, erasing Old Joe from existence. Sara and Cid, now safe, take Joe's silver and return to their home.

Cast

  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Joe Simmons: A looper working for a mafia organization in Kansas.
  • Bruce Willis as Joe's older self sent from 30 years into the future to "close his loop" and end young Joe's contract.
  • Emily Blunt as Sara Rollins: A farmer living in rural Kansas. She is the biological mother of Cid.
  • Paul Dano as Seth Richards: Joe's best friend and companion.
  • Noah Segan as Kid Blue: An overconfident and arrogant member of Abe's Gat Men, who bears hostility against Joe.
  • Piper Perabo as Suzie: A showgirl at Abe's nightclub "La Belle Aurore".
  • Jeff Daniels as Abe: Joe's boss, who was sent from the future to manage the Loopers.
  • Pierce Gagnon as Cid Harrington: Sara's son, who has unusual telekinetic abilities. He is the future godfather in the year 2074, called the "Rainmaker".
  • Xu Qing as Old Joe's Wife
  • Tracie Thoms as Beatrix, a waitress.
  • Frank Brennan as Old Seth
  • Garret Dillahunt as Jesse Goldhar: A member of Abe's Gat Men.
  • Nick Gomez as Dale Walters, a looper.
  • Marcus Hester as Zach Henderson

Production

Rian Johnson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt speaking at WonderCon 2012 in promotion of Looper.

Looper was written and directed by Rian Johnson. After Johnson released The Brothers Bloom in 2008, he re-teamed with producer Ram Bergman, who produced Johnson's previous two films, with the goal of starting production of Looper in 2009.[7] In May 2010, Joseph Gordon-Levitt was cast in one of the lead roles, which he would play after completing Premium Rush.[8] Later in the month, Bruce Willis was also cast.[9] In the following October, Emily Blunt joined Gordon-Levitt and Willis.[10] Noah Segan, Jeff Daniels, and Piper Perabo were cast in January 2011.[11]

Filming began in Louisiana on January 24, 2011.[12]

Makeup artist Kazuhiro Tsuji created the prosthetics that Gordon-Levitt wore in the film so that he would physically resemble Willis.[13]

The film's score was composed by Nathan Johnson, Rian Johnson's cousin.[14]

Talking about Looper and time travel in film, Rian Johnson said:

Even though it's a time-travel movie, the pleasure of it doesn't come from the mass of time travel. It's not a film like Primer, for instance, where the big part of the enjoyment is kind of working out all the intricacies of it. For Looper, I very much wanted it to be a more character-based movie that is more about how these characters dealt with the situation time travel has brought about. So the biggest challenge was figuring out how to not spend the whole movie explaining the rules and figure out how to put it out there in a way that made sense on some intuitive level for the audience; then get past it and deal with the real meat of the story.[14]

Release

Looper premiered on September 6, 2012 at the opening night of the Toronto International Film Festival.[15] The film was then released theatrically in the United States on September 28, 2012.[16] The film's studio Endgame Entertainment negotiated a deal with FilmDistrict at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2011, for FilmDistrict to release the film in the United States through TriStar Pictures.[17]

The Chinese release of the film reintegrates a substantial number of scenes set in Shanghai that were edited out due to pacing reasons. The move was requested by Chinese production company DMG Entertainment in order to further appeal to Chinese audiences.[18]

Johnson released a free audio commentary on SoundCloud to be downloaded and listened to during the film, with the warning: "Needless to say, this is NOT to be listened to on a first viewing, or before you've seen the film."[19]

Home media

The film will be released on Blu-ray and DVD in North America on December 31, 2012.[20][21] The film will also be released on January 28, 2013 in online UK stores and a general release on February 4, 2013.[22] The US Itunes store released the film on 12/21/2012 to own in HD and SD forms as part of an early release deal it as on certain films.

Reception

Critical response

Looper holds a 94% "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 231 reviews and an average score of 8.1/10, with the reported consensus: "As thought-provoking as it is thrilling, Looper delivers an uncommonly smart, bravely original blend of futuristic sci-fi and good old-fashioned action."[23] On Metacritic, the film holds an 84/100 average rating based on 44 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[24]

Toronto International Film Festival

James Mottram of Total Film gave Looper 5 stars out of 5, concluding that it was "[t]he best sci-fi movie since Moon. The best time-travel yarn since 12 Monkeys. And one of the best films of 2012."[25] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, calling it "an engaging, neatly worked-out time-travel sci-fi thriller", but also criticizing the effects involved in making Gordon-Levitt resemble Willis: "At first, the effect is a bit odd, and you can't quite put your finger on what's off; then it feels downright weird to be looking at a version of Gordon-Levitt who is no longer the actor you've known for a few years now."[26] Peter Debruge of Variety also gave the film a positive review, writing that writer-director Johnson's "grandly conceived, impressively mounted third feature shows a giddy, geeky interest in science-fiction, then forces it into the back seat and lets the multidimensional characters drive. In a genre infamous for loose ends, this thinking man's thriller marshals action, romance and a dose of very dark comedy toward a stunning payoff."[27]

General release

Kim Newman of Empire magazine gave Looper 5 stars out of 5, writing, "Intelligent science-fiction sometimes seems an endangered species—too much physics and there's a risk of creating something cold and remote, too many explosions and get lost in the multiplex. Looper isn't perfect, but it pulls off the full Wizard Of Oz: it has a brain, courage and a heart."[28] Noel Murray of The A.V. Club gave the film an A− grade, writing, "Looper is a remarkable feat of imagination and execution, entertaining from start to finish, even as it asks the audience to contemplate how and why humanity keeps making the same rotten mistakes."[29] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times gave the film a positive review, writing, "Looper is way inventive but it wears its creativity lightly, like it's no big deal. This is a highflying, super-stylish science-fiction thriller that brings a fresh approach to mind-bending genre material. We're not always sure where this time-travel film is going, but we wouldn't dream of abandoning the ride."[30]

Claudia Puig of USA Today gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, writing, "Looper's heady blend of time travel, gritty action and a jot of romance is such a thrilling and cerebral mind-bender that it will likely have moviegoers gathering outside the theater afterward to hash out details of its intricately constructed universe. Not that that's a bad thing."[31] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone also gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, praising the performances of Willis and Gordon-Levitt and concluding, "Lacing tremendously exciting action with touching gravity, Looper hits you like a shot in the heart."[32] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times also gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, praising its screenplay and writing, "Looper, a smart and tricky sci-fi story, sidesteps the paradoxes of time travel by embracing them. Most time travel movies run into trouble in the final scenes, when impossibilities pile up one upon another. This film leads to a startling conclusion that wipes out the story's paradoxes so neatly it's as if it never happened."[33]

Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B+ grade, writing, "The time swivels in Looper evoke some of Inception's fancy temporal tricks (some of which, of course, also involved Gordon-Levitt straddling multiple time zones at once). But it's the glimpses of Children of Men-like societal dystopia that give the movie its real weight".[34] Richard Corliss of Time magazine gave the film a positive review, calling Looper a "hybrid, mashing Quentin Tarantino and Philip K. Dick into a species of pulp science fiction" and also writing, "A fanciful film with the patina of hyper-realism, Looper is well served by actors who behave not as if they were dropped carelessly into the future but spent their whole desperate lives there."[35] Dana Stevens of Slate gave the film a mixed review, writing, "Looper felt to me like a maddening near-miss: It posits an impossible but fascinating-to-imagine relationship—a face-to-face encounter between one's present and future self, in which each self must account for its betrayal of the other—and then throws away nearly all the dramatic potential that relationship offers."[36]

Audiences polled by the market research firm CinemaScore gave the film a B+ grade on average.[37]

Accolades

Award Category Recipients and nominees Outcome
National Board of Review[38]
Original Screenplay Rian Johnson Won
Washington D. C. Area Film Critics Association[39]
Original Screenplay Rian Johnson Won
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2012[40] Original Screenplay Rian Johnson Pending
Best Actress in an Action Movie Emily Blunt Pending
Best Actor in an Action Movie Joseph Gordon-Levitt Pending
Best Action Movie Pending
Best Sci-Fi Movie Pending
Las Vegas Film Critics Society
Screenplay Rian Johnson Won
Chicago Film Critics Association[41]
Original Screenplay Rian Johnson Pending
Supporting Actress Emily Blunt Pending
Houston Film Critics Society[42]
Original Screenplay Rian Johnson Pending

Top ten lists

The film was included in the following top ten lists for the best films of 2012:

Publication Rank
MTV 3[43]
The Skinny 4[44]
New York Post 8[45]
Total Film 9[46]
Huffington Post 10[47]
The Atlantic Wire N/A[48]

Further reading

  • "Payback Time" by Iain Stasukevich, American Cinematographer magazine Vol. 93, No. 10; October 2012, ISSN 0002-7928, Hollywood, California; pages 64-70, 72-75. Behind-the-scenes article focusing on the film's camera work, lighting, etc. 11 pages, 20 photos.

References

  1. ^ "Looper". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  2. ^ Kaufman, Amy (September 27, 2012). "Animated 'Hotel Transylvania' to scare off 'Looper'". Los Angeles Times.
  3. ^ "Looper". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  4. ^ "Australians to see Looper a day before the rest of the world". August 7, 2012. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
  5. ^ "US Release Date". June 9, 2012. Retrieved June 14, 2012.
  6. ^ "UK Release Date". June 27, 2012. Retrieved June 30, 2012.
  7. ^ Zeitchik, Steven (September 17, 2008). "Rian Johnson's future target: 'Looper'". The Hollywood Reporter. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ Kit, Borys (May 4, 2010). "Joseph Gordon-Levitt eyes two action thrillers". Reuters. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ Fleming, Mike (May 14, 2010). "CANNES: Bruce Willis Plays Mature Joseph Gordon-Levitt In Time Travel Pic 'Looper'". Deadline.com. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ McNary, Dave (October 1, 2010). "Emily Blunt set for 'Looper'". Variety. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ McNary, Dave; Coonan, Clifford (January 21, 2011). "Actors in 'Looper' group". Variety. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ "Official Looper production blog".[verification needed]
  13. ^ Whipp, Glenn (August 31, 2012). "'Looper': Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Rian Johnson are a tight team". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  14. ^ a b Kit, Borys (September 27, 2012). "'Looper' Director Rian Johnson on Reuniting With Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tackling Time Travel and His Love of 'Inception' (Q&A)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
  15. ^ Vlessing, Elan (September 6, 2012). "Toronto 2012: 'Looper's' Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt Bring Star Power on Opening Night". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
  16. ^ McClintock, Pamela (September 29, 2012). "Box Office Report: 'Hotel Transylvania' Wins Friday, Headed For Record $38 Mil-Plus Debut". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
  17. ^ McNary, Dave (May 14, 2011). "TriStar, FilmDistrict set 'Looper' deal". Variety. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ Zeitchik, Steven (June 19, 2012). "A more Sino-centric version of 'Looper' will be released in China". Los Angeles Times. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ Chitwood, Adam (October 5, 2012). "Download Director Rian Johnson's In-Theater Commentary Track for LOOPER". Collider. Retrieved October 12, 2012.
  20. ^ Romano, Paul (November 19, 2012). "LOOPER Coming To Blu-Ray This December". ComicBookMovie.com. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
  21. ^ "Looper Blu-ray Release Date, Details and Cover Art". TheHDRoom.com. November 19, 2012. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
  22. ^ "Looper Blu-ray release announced". Blu-raydisc-reporter.com. November 7, 2012. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
  23. ^ "Looper". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  24. ^ "Looper Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  25. ^ Mottram, James (September 6, 2012). "Looper review". Total Film. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
  26. ^ McCarthy, Todd (September 6, 2012). "Looper: Toronto Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
  27. ^ Debruge, Peter (September 6, 2012). "Looper". Variety. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
  28. ^ Newman, Kim (September 17, 2012). "Looper". Empire. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
  29. ^ Murray, Noel (September 27, 2012). "Looper". The A.V. Club. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
  30. ^ Turan, Kenneth (September 27, 2012). "Review: Gordon-Levitt and Willis take 'Looper' full circle". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
  31. ^ Puig, Claudia (September 28, 2012). "Circling, action-packed story makes 'Looper' intriguing". USA Today. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
  32. ^ Travers, Peter (September 27, 2012). "Looper". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
  33. ^ Ebert, Roger (September 26, 2012). "Looper". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
  34. ^ Schwarzbaum, Lisa (September 26, 2012). "Looper". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
  35. ^ Corliss, Richard (September 27, 2012). "Looper: (500) Days of The Terminator". Time. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
  36. ^ Stevens, Dana (September 28, 2012). "Looper". Slate. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
  37. ^ McClintock, Pamela (September 30, 2012). "Box Office Report: Sony's 'Hotel Transylvania' Smashes Records With $43 Mil Opening". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
  38. ^ "National Board Of Review Best Film: 'Zero Dark Thirty'". Deadline.com. December 5, 2012. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
  39. ^ "The 2012 WAFCA Award Nominees". Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  40. ^ "The 18th Critics' Choice Movie Awards nominees". Broadcast Film Critics Association. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
  41. ^ ""The Master" rules 2012 CFCA Awards with 10 Nominations". CFCA. 2012-14-12. Retrieved 14 December 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  42. ^ "Lincoln leads Houston Film Critic Society Awards with eight nominations Nominees". Retrieved December 17, 2012.
  43. ^ "Best Movies Of 2012". MTV. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
  44. ^ "Light and Shade: The Films Of 2012". The Skinny. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
  45. ^ Lumenick, Lou. "Critics pick best films of 2012". New York Post. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
  46. ^ Kinnear, Simon. "50 Best Movies of 2012". Total Film. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
  47. ^ "Best Movies of 2012". Huffington Post. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
  48. ^ Richard Lawson. "The Best (and Worst) Movies of 2012". The Atlantic Wire. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
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