Looper

Time travel movies are a genre among themselves, but seemed to have been taking a set back for some time now. While there are a few that pop up, none of them have been as iconic as certain films. "Back to the Future" still stands as the most iconic of the genre, as well as being one of the greatest film trilogies ever made. There have been other movies that had time travel, the more recent being the new "Star Trek" and "Men in Black 3," but none of those films hold a candle to the new film, "Looper."

"Looper" tells the story of Joe, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who is one of many specialized killers that execute criminals from the future, and collect the silver sent to them. If a looper has their future self sent as their next target, they have thirty years left to live, before they're put in that place. When Joe gets his future self, played by Bruce Willis, he hesitates, giving the older Joe a chance to get away. Now Present Joe has to find his future self, and either kill him or find out certain info his future self knew. This film is just breathtaking with every moment shown. The depth, mystery, and logic is not only clever, but downright glorious. The elements of time travel done for this film, and doesn't leave as many confusing resolutions as any other time travel film.

The casting works excellent in this movie. Joseph Gordon-Levitt does a fantastic job in this movie, and gave quite possibly the best performance I've seen him give. With what his character does is pretty expected from someone who works with this type of organization. Paul Dano appears in the film as Joe's friend, and he did a fantastic job, despite the screen time he has. Sure, he plays a bit of a smart-aleck, but he has depth in his character. Jeff Daniels plays Joe's boss and leader of the organization, and gives a fantastic performance. In one scene, where he's interrogating someone, he doesn't do the stereotypical thing where he tortures a guy. Instead, he just has a talk with him, and it's all just calm and smart. Definitely one of the most original interrogation scenes I've seen in film. Emily Blunt plays the mother of a child, and delivers a great performance along with the others. All I can say, is that she definitely made up for "The Five-Year Engagement." Bruce Willis as the older Joe was a great choice to play an older Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and how both actors work off playing one in the same. Not only that, but his backstory on how his life was before going back was resonable at times, but it makes you wonder which Joe should you actually root for. And some of the actions that Willis does make you hate him for it, but also makes you feel what Willis felt in the film.

The film was written and directed by Rian Johnson, who also directed "The Brothers Bloom," and "Brick," which is another film starring Gordon-Levitt. With this being his third film and best film, he's marked his place as one of my favorite directors proudly. If any other film of his is planned out soon, then I'll be seeing it the weekend it comes out.

Overall, "Looper" is by far the best time travel film I've seen since "Back to the Future," as well as being a strong contender for best film of the year. It's dramatic, it's action-packed, it has a good western feel to it, and keeps the sci-fi element subtle. If you get a chance, I highly recommend it.

Rating: 10/10