SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
Sorry. I mean he would never have gone to the farm to kill the kid. So he couldn't kill the kid. Only option a) works.
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Looper (dir. Rian Johnson; Gordon-Levitt, Willis)
- Thread starter Expendable.
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SolidSnakeFTW
Member
Just back from seeing it. I loved it then I thought about it and then I found things I didn't like. Then I thought about it some more and decided I did in fact like them. Never really had that before.
All timey wimey stuff aside it's a really REALLY well shot and put together movie. Was a joy to look at.
The only gripe I have left with the plot is:
All timey wimey stuff aside it's a really REALLY well shot and put together movie. Was a joy to look at.
The only gripe I have left with the plot is:
If the rainmaker is such a big deal in the future, has united all the syndicates and is even staging mass executions of vagrants in the streets, why then do Loopers exist? It is apparently hard to kill people in the future due to trackers or something? So why then are there mass executions, and why were the men in older Joe's apartment wielding guns? Why did they shoot Joe's wife so carelessly?
The implied logic that Max Payne's shortcomings as a film adaptation rest solely on the casting of Max strikes me as the most baffling connotation of that post.
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
I can't wait for the sequel when
Bruce Willis travels back in time to protect himself from himself.
SolidSnakeFTW
Member
THANK YOU! I remember that being said now actually.
They still did shoot his wife a bit willy nilly though
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
Fixed.
Agreed
Agreed. It's a nastier version of Terminator meets Akira
Probably should spoiler that, just in case.
It must've been tough to watch that scene. The problem I have is I find it really difficult to take any scene with Willis seriously. Luckily, he didn't have that much screen time compared to JGL, and when he did I got the impression the writer/director knew of that impression, relegating his scenes to peaking through windows and shooting up mob houses in a ridiculous fashion.
Another scene I found a tad shit was the scene where the young gat guy came back and tried to duel him on the bike. It looked fucking stupid and was completely meaningless, other than to move the film from the street to the fields and create the distance between Willis and JGL.
Another scene I found a tad shit was the scene where the young gat guy came back and tried to duel him on the bike. It looked fucking stupid and was completely meaningless, other than to move the film from the street to the fields and create the distance between Willis and JGL.
Freyjadour
Member
I felt like it was less about saving the mother and child and more about the future. That is, coming to the realization that it may very well be his own actions (as Willis Joe) that create the future that he (as Willis Joe) is trying to erase. The reasoning behind this could have been conveyed better than it was, as he's not doing it for the same reasons that Willis Joe was but at the same time not doing it solely out of some instantaneous love for the mother or child either.
Wouldn't have minded a degree more ambiguity to the ending shot though. Something to give a little more doubt as to whether his actions truly changed anything.
Wouldn't have minded a degree more ambiguity to the ending shot though. Something to give a little more doubt as to whether his actions truly changed anything.
likedamaster
Member
Seems like JGL's graduation to A-list. Something about this guy when he acts that leaves you shaking your head in a good way.
Can't wait to watch this movie. Unfortunately, wife wants to see End of Watch first. Not that I'm complaining but still.
Can't wait to watch this movie. Unfortunately, wife wants to see End of Watch first. Not that I'm complaining but still.
I enjoyed it. I wasn't blown away, but the movie lived up to my expectations.
Only a few scenes bugged me.
1.
2.
Other than those scenes, it was all great. I'll admit was confused at first when
Also, Rian Johnson would do a kickass job with an adaptation of
I didn't are that turn coming.
Speaking of which, can anyone who read the old script describe what was added? I heard the TK element wasn't in the original script.
Only a few scenes bugged me.
1.
I thought the scene in the diner with the Joes lasted too long. I would've liked to have them spread that kind of exposition around throughout the rest of the movie.
2.
I really hated the scene where Old Joe slaughters everyone in the club. I thought it was kinda BS, really. I was kinda hoping for something more interesting, but they turned it into some corridor shooter sequence.
Other than those scenes, it was all great. I'll admit was confused at first when
when they did the scene with Willis Joe living out his 30 years. It was well done.
Also, Rian Johnson would do a kickass job with an adaptation of
Akira.
Speaking of which, can anyone who read the old script describe what was added? I heard the TK element wasn't in the original script.
Agree. Phenomenal.
Can one of you film buffs tell me how they managed his face? Prosthetics, or CGI?
Great film although I have an issue with how the time travel/process works.
So the movie implies that the entire affair is one big loop however why then, in the previous loop without Willis hunting the Rainmaker down, does the Rainmaker still want all the Loopers dead and also still turns out evil? The movie implies that the mother is the calming factor but in the previous loop cycle she should have been alive. Even if she failed and he turned into a little shit, there seems no reason to have the grudge against the Loopers.
The shootout at the club scene was also ridiculous in a bad way. Too overblown.
The shootout at the club scene was also ridiculous in a bad way. Too overblown.
Prosthetics and contact lenses.
All for nothing, however, as he didn't look like Willis even in the slightest :lol
:lol true, very eerie in an impressive way though.
I laughed out loud when it was going through the 30 years of film Willis, and he was like JGL, JGL with long hair, JGL balding, BRUCE WILLIS
Yeah, that was hilarious. They really needed a third actor for that sequence to bridge the looks/age gap between the two.
The TK element was present within the script.
Fucking, Andy Serkis in a pseudo CG suit, or some shit.
Agree, and I loved Inception. As I've said elsewhere, Looper's science fiction doesn't feel cheap, or contrived, whereas Inception's really did. Looper also gave me the same sensation I felt leaving the cinema as I did after Inception: that urge to just talk about the film in great detail.
Freyjadour
Member
The comparisons stem more from both being decent science fiction films in a time when decent science fiction (that doesn't involve superheroes) is few and far between.
Napoleonthechimp
Member
"The TK mutation..."
Hey everyone, look at this thing that is largely irrelevant except as a way of explaining how one man can control a large number of criminal organisations. It won't ever come up in any meaningful way until we need some cool looking action sequences!
Hey everyone, look at this thing that is largely irrelevant except as a way of explaining how one man can control a large number of criminal organisations. It won't ever come up in any meaningful way until we need some cool looking action sequences!
Nope. Inception is much better than this.
I'm a Nolan fan, but if Nolan made Looper the world would be creaming over it.
Inception is an original idea, while this is the bastard child of akira and terminator. Looper and kids, well...
Napoleonthechimp
Member
Yeah, explaining how one man could do it by himself is the only reason it exists in the first place. Putting it in the movie is basically a lazy form of Chekhov's gun.
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
LOL no.
Inception had one character and a bunch of exposition mouths. Looper had a full cast and wasn't complex for the sake of it. The narrative complexity had a direct affect on the characters.
SolidSnakeFTW
Member
Just thought of something: The rainmaker was the new boss in town in the future, closing all the loops, and in the present he was 10 years old. Why did it take till he was 40 to take over all the syndicates and start closing all the loops?
So what? They established early on the principles of it and how it was pretty much useless. The kid became the world's supervillain without a superhero to stop him. It's worldbuilding to a certain extent and also explains why somebody doesn't just whack the Rainmaker in the future.
It's a very well established Chekhov's Gun.
Probably mastering his abilities.
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
Midlife crisis.
Writing? LOL Inception's screenplay is terrible, waaaaay too much exposition and hand-holding. Looper is much more efficient with wordplay and trusts the audience more. Not to mention that Inception has no actual characters or characterization outside of Cobb - everyone else is a cipher. Looper has at least 4 characters more fully fleshed out and realized than anyone in Inception. Looper wins.
Acting? Inception is uniformly well acted, but there are no standouts. Looper has standout work from JGL and the real star of the show, the kid actor. Looper wins.
Direction? Nolan got those good performances from the actors and filmed his usual style of incomprehensibly boring action. The hallway scene is a great feat of set design, not direction. Johnson got those great performances and shot a visually interesting movie with several standout sequences. Looper wins.
Looper wins.
Freyjadour
Member
Eh. A mention by Willis at the diner about how TK users had increased in potency and number in the future due to it's evolutionary nature would've been enough for me. I don't really have a problem with how it's introduced and the purpose it serves in the first half of the film, but it shouldn't have been out of the picture for so long simply to reveal it again as a twist.
Is your problem with Looper mostly the killing of children? I ask because my wife is the same way and loved the film up until that point.
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
Looper has this kid. Ender's Game ha fucking Asa Butterfield. Sigh. That is going to be such a train wreck of a film. 
But Looper is a mean and nasty film that I didn't enjoy and wouldn't re watch. Inception is much more entertaining film.
XANDER CAGE
Member
SON LUX ON THE SOUNDTRACK!?
WyndhamPrice
Member
I really really enjoyed this film. Loved the first 2 thirds, liked the last third.
This was also one of the only times I've ever actually enjoyed a child actor in a movie.
This was also one of the only times I've ever actually enjoyed a child actor in a movie.
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
I think it's time that a mod changes the title of the thread to include a spoiler warning.
Because, unlike Nolan and Inception, Johnson actually took the time in Looper to really develop the characters. Hell, some of them in even relatively no time. If Johnson can make us care about Willis after 5 minutes of screentime, there is no excuse for Nolan not getting us to care about anyone other than Cobb in 180 minutes of Inception.
This will be my last Inception-slagging post in the Looper thread, I promise :lol
Napoleonthechimp
Member
No, it was dumb and was poorly integrated into the movie. It was out of place enough to be completely obvious.
One thing that'd take this film from great to exceptional, for me, is a better score.
Pretty much. For someone who makes me laugh every time I see him, I was surprised how emotionally invested I was in Willis' character, and his motivations for doing what he was doing. Then the kid shows up, does some really cute stuff, and suddenly Willis becomes something of a villain.
Pretty much. For someone who makes me laugh every time I see him, I was surprised how emotionally invested I was in Willis' character, and his motivations for doing what he was doing. Then the kid shows up, does some really cute stuff, and suddenly Willis becomes something of a villain.
The scene where the mum went into her little fridge bunker, came out, and Sid hugged her was heart breaking.
Bolded is what makes it great, save for the cop-out, non-mean, and non-nasty ending.
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