Looper – Film Review

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Jeff Daniels, Paul Dano

Director: Rian Johnson

Synopsis: Joe (JGL) is a Looper, someone who’s hired to take out people who are sent back in time by the criminal underworld, but runs into some trouble when he’s tasked with taking out his older self.

Review: Time travel movies can be a risky endeavour, as the Doctor himself will probably tell you, the timelines can get very messy and the plot can get very confusing, which might make the viewer’s brain start to hurt. Fortunately, there’s no need to worry about your brain melting here as writer and director Rian Johnson delivers a very sharp screenplay and a very riveting and thought provoking story in equal measure.

In this time twisting tale, upon the invention of time travel, it is almost instantaneously outlawed, meaning only criminals use it to dispose of people to wipe them off the map. This is done courtesy of Loopers who do the deed once the person is zapped back in time, and then destroy their bodies, erasing them from existence. When the contract of a Looper expires, their older self is sent back to their younger self, which then”closes their loop.”

Yet for Joe, things go a bit awry as he’s faced with his older self, and he can’t bring himself to kill himself, and as a result, a hunting game begins. The screenplay by Johnson is tremendous, it delves deep into this futuristic world and the plot hooks you in, and goes in some very interesting directions that you might not expect. There are elements from other time travel movies for sure (Terminator 1), but the film certainly holds its own as a remarkable piece of science fiction storytelling.

In another collaboration with Johnson following 2005’s Brick, Joseph Gordon Levitt is terrific as the younger version of the film’s main character Joe. He has that cold and ruthless trait about his personality that helps him in this crazy job that he does. Similarly Bruce Willis is also first class in his role as the Older Joe. He’s a man who clearly believes with age comes experience, and watching these two on screen together, is insanely gripping and mental to watch. The make up to make JGL look like a young Bruce Willis is tremendously well done, to the point where you actually believe that he IS a young Bruce Willis. The arrival of Emily Blunt’s character on screen ensures the plot takes a very interesting turn, and she too gives a wounded, yet powerful performance.

However, despite all the interesting timey wimey time travel elements to the story, there’s plenty of fist flying and guns blazing to get the pulses racing. The story is paced for the most part very well, although there are moments where it does lull for a little bit, but never for any substantial period of time. The film looks incredible as well, the world of 2044 although we haven’t seen it yet (unless you’re reading this in 2044!) looks very detailed and futuristic. What’s more the action scenes looking crisp and are edited supremely well with superb cinematography. If Looper is the film that ensured that Star Wars: Episode VIII was put into the hands of Rian Johnson, then you have to say, Bravo! As it means the next instalment in a galaxy far, far away is in very capable hands.

A very unique and creative story with some superb writing, directing and acting especially from JGL and Willis, ensured that Johnson is a director to keep a firm eye on.

DOFP — **Image is property of 20th Century Fox, Marvel Entertainment and Bad Hat Harry Productions**

X Men Days of Future Past Film Review

Cast: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Nicholas Hoult, Ellen Page, Evan Peters.

Director: Bryan Singer

Synopsis: In an apocalyptic future, with humanity enslaved and the X Men on the brink of extinction. Wolverine is sent back into the past in an attempt to change the future and prevent the extermination of all mutant kind.

Review: With the original trilogy of X Men films that came out in the 2000s, and the 2011 prequel X Men First Class, as well as the two Wolverine stand alone films. There were two different timelines of this popular franchise with different casts. Two loose ends that needed tying up. They were tied up and the end result is an enthralling combination of both of these timelines as past and future collide in epic proportions with the triumphant return of the man who launched this universe way back in 2000.

That man, Mr Bryan Singer has pulled out of the bag the best X Men movie that has been put to screen, whilst at the same time erasing the wrongdoings that went down in his absence (cough, The Last Stand). The amalgamation of both the First Class storyline and the present day X Men storyline is a master-stroke, and full credit for that must go to screenplay writer Simon Kinberg. Under Singer’s direction these two sets of actors, both of which are all exceptionally talented, go all out .Every one of them give excellent performances from the veterans like Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, to new recruits such as Fan BingBing as Blink.

The mutant race is facing a dire threat in the form of the Sentinels who are coming to eradicate them. The mutants, past and future alike must stand together to avoid the extinction of all mutant kind. The real scene stealers come from The First Class cast, but the original cast are by no means out of their depth. One of the stand out performances comes from James McAvoy as the young Xavier. He is at his lowest low after his fall out with Magneto and must be urged to come to the fore once again. First Class really humanised the wise Professor X, and with Days of Future Past, that carries on.

Similarly as the young Magneto, Michael Fassbender, has similar grievances with Xavier and once again these two men clash. Hugh Jackman as Wolverine has had a tendency to stand out in previous X Men movies and while he is central to this story, and he is still a really cool character, he’s outshone on this occasion by the younger versions of Magneto and Professor X. Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique is another character who takes it up a gear. Her role in this movie requires here to be a lot more of a badass when compared to her role previously, and she pulls it off well.

With the old cast, they are not in the movie as much as their First Class counterparts, they feel somewhat underused, and some only make fleeting appearances. Likewise with the new selection of mutants, there are some exciting action scenes with these new characters, but they are almost over before they really get going. Yet with the central action of the film being focused on the events surrounding the First Class cast, it is understandable why the original cast have comparatively little screen time. With one scene involving one new character that you WILL remember once you have left the cinema.

The main antagonist in the form of Bolivar Trask, the man who created the Sentinels and brilliantly played by Peter Dinklage. While his motives are not completely clear, he nevertheless he gives an excellent performance. The action here is not quite as intense as First Class. The battle is not being waged right in the middle of the Cuban Missile crisis, but it gives it a great run for its money with a superb final showdown taking place in Washington DC.

Time travel films can be horrifically inconsistent if they are done badly, and plot holes can be found in abundance. Luckily with this film that is just simply not the case. The story is solid and it is very well done with excellent directing and great execution. It makes you care about all the characters and they all provide memorable performances. It breathes new life back into the old franchise that suffered a regretful fate following X Men 3. Furthermore, the franchise returned with a bang following First Class and with Days of Future Past, it is clear that this particular line of comic book superheroes still has a lot of Xciting things going for it!