Looper (2012)

User Review

• 

  Barneyonmovies

  8 / 10

  WHAT I LIKED: Rian Johnson's 'Looper' is a startlingly fresh, properly original and genuinely brave film made by a force of thoroughly creative people all driving to test the boundaries of blockbuster cinema, but it is also a film with a clear grounding in what can make cinema so transcendent and enjoyable. Indeed on the one hand it is a rather experimental movie that subverts many expectations with its ambitious story that tackles some heady themes and with its unique technical achievements, but it also crucially gives lots of breathing room to develop those ideas and the world so that you can truly understand them. As a result, you not only get time to think about all that stuff, but you also get plenty of spare moments to wallow in the gentle light-hearted surface stuff that enhances the journey as it goes on, and in the end you've got yourself a very memorable and often profound blockbuster that ticks far more boxes than it needs to.
  WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: The characters themselves are so wrapped up in the story and the themes that they occasionally lose their human touch, and that is actually the case in much of Johnson's work.
  VERDICT: Blockbusters like this really are rather rare - Rian Johnson's 'Looper,' is ground-breaking and remarkably enjoyable, even if it certainly doesn't prioritise its characters.

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