Review : Looper, a masterpiece.

In United States, on September 28, Looper, the Rian Johnson's new film is released. And it is important to say at the outset that this is one of the best films of the year 2012. The film features Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emily Blunt.
Back in 2006 writer-director Rian Johnson made an exceptional debut with Brick, a low-budget thriller with Joseph Gordon-Levitt too. Also four years later with the very bad and flop The Brothers Bloom. And now, Johnson is back with the time-travel sci-fi action motion picture : Looper. The cast is mainly composed of Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Garret Dillahunt, Jeff Daniels, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Paul Dano, Piper Perabo and Tracie Thoms.

Makeup to be Willis

2012 was an important year for Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Indeed, we saw him in The Dark Knight Rises, Premier Rush and soon in Lincoln. Dans ce film, Gordon-Levitt est très différent.  He looks older and more mature somehow: with a high forehead, a more pronounced nose...This change, in addition to being physical is also present in the voice of Gordon-Levitt. Throughout the film, the actor had three hours of makeup. He wore dentures then his eyes were then digitally modified to have the same color as those of its 'future'. The reasons for his makeover become apparent when his character, Joe, comes face to face with his older self, played by Bruce Willis: higher forehead, same nose, same scowl. The resemblance is quite striking, Bruce Willis himself was amazed!
In addition to these technical aspects of the film, we going to focus more closely on the story written by Rian Johnson.
By 2044, the United States has suffered economic collapse, causing severe social decay and growth in organized crime. In addition, a mutation has occurred in 10% of the population giving them telekinetic powers. Time travel is invented in 2074, but is immediately outlawed. The picture doesn’t get mired down in how time travel works. In fact, the actual time-travel mechanism is seen only once and the technology isn’t explained. It's better than other because we have too grown accustomed to see big-budget movies with effects that could not be imagined. But behind these effects usually hide a major gap in the scenario. And here, Looper stands out as the film focuses on the story and more precisely on the two main characters (Normal Joe and Old Joe), and not just based on technology and science fiction. And budget proves that fact, because it represents  $ 30 million. Face "Paranormal Activity 4" is a lot, because the budget is only  $ 5 million. But faced with "Taken 2" ($ 45 million), "Cloud Atlas" ($ 100 million) and "Skyfall" ($ 150 million) is rather low.

We could say that he has - like other loopers - a life of debauchery. Loopers possess money, women, and a new hallucinogen that’s taken via eyedropper. I must admit it took me a while to understand that it was a drug. They’re rich, in possession of the knowledge of when and how they’ll die, and have nothing to kill but time (to kill ?). Joe wants to live in Paris with his money.
A ‘looper’ is a specialised assassin. His job is to bump off mob targets that arrive tied, hooded and helpless. Then , the looper must get rid of the corpse because in 2074, the means to retrieve the dead are too powerful, this is why they do not kill but 30 years earlier to the loopers. The twist is that sometimes one kills himself, or at least our version of 2074.
Practised so the Mafia can hide their dirty laundry in the past, the only rule is “never let your target escape” – even if that target happens to be your future self. This is called “closing the loop”. When the Mafia think it’s time to retire their assassin, they send his future self back to be shot by his 2044 self.
One night, Seth, a Joe's friend visited him terrified. He explains that he just met his own. He has told him, that  Rainmaker eliminated one by one all the loopers. And he has not had time to kill his own loop, as it required by rules. Joe will first protect Seth and then say to his boss where he was hidden. This mini story prepares us for the major plot with Joe and his own loop.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Joe (like Bruce Willis), a particularly efficient young looper, and he's putting aside enough money to get out of this business when he will 'closing his own loop' to retire to Paris. But a problem arises when he's called on to terminate his future self. This is known as "closing the loop", and it happens to Joe when Old Joe (Bruce Willis) is sent back for execution. Gordon-Levitt has got his mission and Willis want to finish this story of looper. So his "mission" is to track down and kill a 10-year-old child who's going to grow up to become a Rainmaker, a particularly serious threat to future humanity.

The movie’s future doesn’t look too futuristic or too dystopian. There are hoverbikes, but they don’t work that well and the beautiful cellphones still can’t get signals out in farm country. In other words, it feels like our world, but in 2044.
There are the moments where Looper truly excels at simultaneously being a sci-fi film, an action movie, and a thought-provoking drama. This film is made ​​for multi genre and appeal to a wide audience, whether teenagers, geeks, movie lovers, the businessman or woman of fifty years.

Final view : 9/10 -- Sci-fi needs more movies like Looper and needs to stop with effects and effects. Like resume the motion picture Cloud Atlas : "Everything is connected" between past and present. This film offers a real philosophical reflection. And you, what would you do if you met your own version but aged of thirty years more than you? Looper is a pleasure to watch.