The Daily Stream: 10 years ago, Looper broke the circle (even though Hollywood didn't)

By / Sep 26, 2022 7:00 PM EDT

(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series where the /Film team shares what they watched, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)< /em>

The movie: "Looper" (2012)

Where can you stream it: Hulu

The pitch: In 2074, time travel was invented. It was also banned because, you know, it's time travel and can lead to things like someone becoming their own grandfather. Okay, maybe not in the "Looper" universe, but there are other more valid concerns. That said, if you think some pesky laws are going to prevent capitalism from finding a way to exploit this fuzzy scientific process, you have something else to come.

Among those committing future crimes (not those) is a Kansas City syndicate that has found a convenient way to get rid of its enemies. He captures them and sends them back to 2044, where a hitman or "looper" guns them down, collects the money owed to them, and disposes of the corpses (preventing their deaths from being traced back to the Syndicate). Also note that these victims are sent back in time with hoods on their heads, so as to conceal their identity from surveyors.

Why talk about it? Because at some point all loopers still alive in 2074 are sent back to have their young killed, e.g. Close the loop. It's a terrible cycle, but it goes with Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a cynical, selfish looper who thinks the world sucks anyway, so might as well get what you can. Enter Old Joe (Bruce Willis), who travels back in time with a plan to fix everything by killing a mysterious figure from the future (known as the Rainmaker) while they are still children.

Why watching is essential Sony Pictures release

Almost exactly 10 years after its theatrical release, "Looper" remains a rarity in modern Hollywood. It never got a sequel, and writer/director Rian Johnson hasn't expressed any real desire to revisit his universe with a spin-off or a TV series. It's just appropriate, too. The message at the heart of the film – that you can't reform the toxic circles (or, as Joe calls them, the wrong paths), you just have to break them – goes against the very idea of ​​a franchise. . It also goes against what studios and streaming services have spent the last decade preaching when it comes to their biggest intellectual properties.

While he's certainly not against tackling franchises or reviving older genres (as he's proven over the years), that's not what Johnson is after. with "Looper". It's a film that draws from a myriad of sources, taking elements from classic films like "Casablanca" and "Akira", and remixing them in a fresh and exciting way. Then there's his meta commentary on American action cinema, which comes through much stronger thanks to Willis' casting.

Even in 2022, it's still quite radical in its way of questioning a proponent of the genre (many superhero movies included): that violence can be used to resolve cycles of violence.

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