k4tzm4n and YNCG Present : Looper (Review)

YourNeighborhoodComicGeek and k4tzm4n present....

LOOPER

Plot/Storyline

k4tzm4n

"While it takes elements from quite a few films (then again, what movie truly doesn't?), Looper manages to build an incredibly engrossing world and provided more than enough intrigue to keep my attention the whole time. Personally, I'm fine with calling it a modern sci-fi classic."

YourNeighborhoodComicGeek

"Surprisingly, this Sci-Fi movie really has a good plot, without too many of the major confusion of time-travelling paradoxes. Throughout the movie I was captivated and was looking for what was going to happen."

Plot/Storyline gets a.....

Casting

k4tzm4n

"JGL did a stellar job as a young Bruce Willis. The mannerisms, the tone -- he clearly did his homework. Willis' role is limited but solid and Blunt and the child do a more than able job. No real complaints to be had here from me."

YourNeighborhoodComicGeek

"The Casting is pretty good, but not the best, although Willis and Joseph are good at their roles... but they don't really look at each other at all. I don't really see the comparison, but it's nothing worth ruining the movie for."

Casting gets a.....

Character Development

k4tzm4n

"Once again, another category where no major complaints come to mind. Characters are far from one dimensional and the ending is quite emotional... primarily because of the drastically different personalities among the bunch."

YourNeighborhoodComicGeek

"Excellent. I love how all the characters are pieced together, and the secrets are revealed. The ending is mind-blowing, and when you really take count of every single person and how they have interacted with each other, it's just absolutely awesome."

Character Development gets a....

Special Effects

k4tzm4n

"It's no Avatar, but the effects still impress when they appear. Be it the prosthetics or the "rain maker" (keeping it spoiler free), the film will certainly appeal to your eyes."

YourNeighborhoodComicGeek

"Good but it could be better, although it wasn't necessary to overload the movie with special effects. It was good for the tone of the movie, and wasn't far-fetched. Overall good and no major mistakes/cheesiness to really pick at, but not a good pick for a person looking for mind-blowing visuals."

Special Effects gets a....

Lasting Appeal

k4tzm4n

"I'd absolutely watch this film again and as I said before, the film kept me highly entertained the entire ride."

YourNeighborhoodComicGeek

"Throughout the movie, I think it really captured my attention, and wasn't boring at any parts. All in all, this movie may leave a mark in the film industry as a Modern-day Classic, and is one of the best films of the decade."

Lasting Appeal gets a....

The Verdict

k4tzm4n

"A must see experience for sci-fi fans. I'm confident with giving this a 9/10."

YourNeighborhoodComicGeek

"I don't think it is an overall must-watch, as most people may not be attracted to the movie, but for Sci-Fi fans and Time-Traveling movies fans, I think this is a must-watch for them. Overall this movie would get an 8.5/10, but for a Sci-Fi film itself, it gets a 9/10."

The Verdict is...

"EXCELLENT FILM"

Like our review? Have any comments? Want to see more from the review duo? Drop a post below of your thoughts!

Very nice! I love the format of the review.

Might actually have to see this movie now. :P

@Icarusflies: @k4tzm4n: Thanks to both!

Love it! Great job to both!

Personally I don't like the format, but what is said is more important than how it is presented. With that being said, it was nice to see such positive thoughts about this movie, it didn't really look like much from the previews. Nicely done. :]

@8bitGangsta said:

Love it! Great job to both!

@Xanni15 said:

Personally I don't like the format, but what is said is more important than how it is presented. With that being said, it was nice to see such positive thoughts about this movie, it didn't really look like much from the previews. Nicely done. :]

Thanks for the opinions! Much appreciated!

Great review guys! JGL is the man.

Love the duo review. Great job!

@Deranged Midget said:

Love the duo review. Great job!

This

Urgh.

Sorry, I really like the formatting but I can't get away from the fact that I felt that this flick was disappointing.

Not going to write why as I'm sure no one wants this to turn into a rant / argument.

@Pwok21: No, no, no! Speak your mind!

@YourNeighborhoodComicGeek:

You sure?

*breathes deeply*

Here goes.

When I first heard about Looper I got really excited, as in 'Holy crap this is supposed to be the new Matrix' excited; I mean, the concept sounded interesting so I made a beeline for the local Cinema as soon as it was available.

Watching the film I almost felt my life drain away, it wasn't difficult to see certain plot points upcoming or the fact that they introduced certain plot points purely because they were going to be referenced late in the film but the way they portrayed the points felt so ham-fistedly obvious with almost no finesse. Like being damaged in the past affects the future version, thats such a pastiche in Time Travel fiction that it's almost unreal that they had to introduce that earlier in the film.

There were also plot points that were never explained fully like the Antichrists Mother knowing about Loopers, you know, the operatives purely chosen to work in secret killing off targets. That would be common knowledge for anyone who lived in the city, right? Also the fact that they made them kill their future selves, as if that couldn't backfire; why not send their future selves to other Loopers? I mean I would understand if it was a lone operative but there was an entire complex network of them established in the film.

I felt it didn't bring anything new to the table, whilst the Matrix was revolutionary this was a re-hash of the Grandfather Paradox which has been told so many times in so many different ways. There was really no way that this film could have been original.

That said: great casting, initial concept, acting and directing.

Overall for me it was a 6/10, though I will be re-watching it once it hits DVD's just to see if it's any better the second time 'round.

This is a great review. I'm hopefully going to see this in a weeks time and I'm really looking forwards to it now.

Great stuff :) not seen the film yet but after reading this excellent review will try & find the time to pop over to my local cinema :)

I've seen the film and loved it. I'm happy how Bruce Willis has become the "thinking man's" sci-fi hero. He's starred in 12 Monkeys, The Fifth Element and now, Looper.

Thanks for all the feedback!

Tell me this is gonna be a regular thing.

So this was the review! I'd never guess it was gonna be of this. How awesome.

@YourNeighborhoodComicGeek:

There were also plot points that were never explained fully like the Antichrists Mother knowing about Loopers, you know, the operatives purely chosen to work in secret killing off targets. That would be common knowledge for anyone who lived in the city, right? 

@k4tzm4n:

I literally typed my entire reply and breakdown, only for it to go and die on me. Is Comicvine being buggy with anyone else for comments lately?

Anywho back on track:

@k4tzm4n said:

I wouldn't really say it was a secret in that city. After all, the entire city was in Abe's pocket. To top it off, they weren't exactly secretive about their lifestyle, either. They lived rather luxurious life styles, commonly bragging about their profession (even the prostitute knew what he did). When people were on the run, they had the full resources of the city hunting them down (helicopter and such). Joe made a remark that Abe practically runs the city and that would be impressive if it was anywhere else. Based on that and the location, it was just a small, corrupt city where people bragged about what they do -- primarily because they had nothing to fear. Based on that, I don't think it's far fetched to believe Sara knew about Loopers.

The only place that there were really public about their jobs was at Abe's main base, and the club attached to the back. At least that was my understanding, all their announcements were at the same club regardless. My vibe from the relationship with the prostitute was that it was a two way street as he knew about her job (obviously), lifestyle and family; whilst she knew about his job and lifestyle. My feeling from the 'impressive if anywhere else' wasn't that the city was small, but that the city is in disrepair with slums up the ying yang, and that he was able to manipulate them because they were desperate regardless of the scale. I don't think that the Police would need a reason to hunt down someone other than 'Abe said so' as like you previously mention the city was in his pocket.

@Pwok21: Understandable.

By "small city," I didn't mean to limit the term to size, but also apply it to influence/power/standing the city has in the nation. As you agree, Abe pretty much had the city under his control -- essentially making the entire place "mob run," if you will. With no fear of outside authorities stepping in(since it's such a minor location), the arrogance and flapping lips of these Loopers doesn't really make it far-fetched to me that word of mouth gets around. It's one of those things people hear about, but don't do anything about because they can't. Joe had no issue telling a prostitute he was head over heels for, despite the fact the feeling clearly wasn't mutual (as seen by her unamused look as she checked the time he had left). From there, she could casually say this to anyone she regularly converses with. And this is just the leak of information stemming from one Looper -- one that happens to be much brighter than the others.

Additionally, Sara said she once lived in the city, so it's possible she overhead this information while there. There's also a really fascinating theory about Sara being sent from the future in an attempt to change the course of Rainmaker's life. Interesting stuff.

Anyway, my point is I don't think Sara knowing about Loopers is that big of a deal.

@k4tzm4n:

No I agree, but it still irked me that she stated that she knew about Loopers and then that was it. They could have expanded on it a bit more, but then I guess Joe's reaction wasn't too spectacular so that says a lot.

I do think that the relationship with the prostitute was quite strange as she obviously didn't care for him (not only the look on her face but also the fact that she rejected his offer of half his saved silver) yet she told him about her life. No point overthinking the smallest parts of the film though.

@k4tzm4n: @k4tzm4n: Did you guys do a review for Dredd? I want to see what you thought.

@The Man of Yesteryear: I would be open to that if YNCG is as well!

@Pwok21 said:

@k4tzm4n:

No I agree, but it still irked me that she stated that she knew about Loopers and then that was it. They could have expanded on it a bit more, but then I guess Joe's reaction wasn't too spectacular so that says a lot.

I do think that the relationship with the prostitute was quite strange as she obviously didn't care for him (not only the look on her face but also the fact that she rejected his offer of half his saved silver) yet she told him about her life. No point overthinking the smallest parts of the film though.

To each their own, I suppose. Other things bothered me, but I didn't even have a second thought about Sara knowing since I was able to immediately justify it in my mind.

Well, he was oblivious to the fact she didn't care. After all, we could only tell because we saw her expression when he couldn't. When he could, she seemed more than enthralled to be with him. And her reason for rejecting his financial offer was a logical one (silver, especially in that quantity, has too many strings attached to it). I don't see her revealing she's a single mom to him is really that big of a deal, especially if they regularly converse during their... well, "sessions."

@k4tzm4n:

'@YourNeighborhoodComicGeek

Haven't seen the movie,but its a great format and an interesting way of doing a review.

@k4tzm4n:

The reason it irked me was because they basically justified or hinted at everything else in the film, and then nothing for that one scene. It left me feeling confused as to why they left that one scene out.

No, I get that's why she rejected his offer of silver, but what they conversed about is what interests me. She obviously knew that he cared for her and was mentioning her life so that he felt personal with her and she got more business? I mean she knew she was leading him on by her demeanor but to what end so she doing it, and why?

Like I said before everything is speculation, but it doesn't help that I saw the nearly three weeks ago and have been cramming for exams since.

I could do a review on Dredd, although we could also do Skyfall!