12 Years Ago, An Underrated Sci-Fi Movie Gave Us a Perfect Ending

Looper is a 2012 futuristic sci-fi action-thriller written and directed by Rian Johnson. Starring an ensemble cast of Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Emily Blunt, Looperis set in the year 2044 and introduces an illegal ring of criminals called "loopers." The film's protagonist Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is classified as a "looper", a job in which his employers use time travel to send men from the future to be killed into the past, where Joe can properly dispose of their bodies. However, to tie up loose ends and erase the evidence of his ever being a looper, Joe knows that one day his future self will be sent back for him to kill. When this day comes, Joe's future self is prepared and escapes, and the two men struggle separately in the past, trying to evade capture and attempting to fulfill their own personal agendas.

The 2012 blockbuster was a box office success, earning $176 million globally. Looper also received critical acclaim, as the sci-fi thriller was nominated for four Saturn Awards, including Best Actor (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Best Science Fiction Film, Best Director (Rian Johnson), and Best Editing. The futuristic action-thriller was also a Critics Choice Awards favorite, as it was nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Best Action Movie while winning the Best Sci-fi/Horror Movie award. More than a decade later, the movie is still regarded as one of history's most captivating time travel movies.

Looper Is a Compelling Tale of Time Travel

Time travel has not yet been invented in 2044, but in 2074, it has. Although it was quickly outlawed, it is used by criminals to eliminate targets by sending them to assassins called "loopers" 30 years in the past. Led by a man sent from the future named Abe (Jeff Daniels), loopers kill and dispose of victims sent back in time from 2074 and are paid by employers with bars of silver attached to the target as payment. Additionally, when a looper is retired, the looper's future self is sent back in time as a routine target, but with a gold bar payment; this event is referred to as "closing the loop."

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The film's protagonist Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a 25-year-old looper who lives a fast life filled with drugs and frequent trips to nightclubs. When the day finally comes for him to close his loop, things go awry as his future self proves more difficult to kill than expected. When the elderly version of Joe, portrayed by Bruce Willis, is sent to be slaughtered in the past, he isn't willing to lie down and die. Thirsty for revenge against the "Rainmaker," the leader of the time-travel crime syndicate responsible for killing Joe's wife before sending him to the past, Joe escapes and begins a quest to hunt down the Rainmaker while he's a child, hoping to prevent his ascension to a criminal kingpin. To save his own skin, the 25-year-old Joe must track down his older self, as those unable to "close their loop" are executed.

Love is Timeless and Conquers All

Eager to save his future wife's life, the elderly Joe begins searching for children who could be the Rainmaker. But, since he only knows the hometown and age of the young child, he is forced to kill everyone that fits the description, forcing him to execute multiple children in the town. In a strange twist, the 25-year-old Joe locates the adolescent version of Rainmaker before his future self. Guarded by his telepathic mother Sara (Emily Blunt), Rainmaker is a child telepath who struggles with fits of anger and telepathic outbursts.

Sara, after being alerted that Joe's future self plans to hunt down her child, allows present-day Joe to stay at her home to protect them. While dwelling there, awaiting his future self to arrive so he can kill him, Joe falls for Sara and the two form a romantic relationship. By the time the elderly Joe arrives, the 25-year-old looper wants to protect Sara and her child for more than just upholding his obligations with the crime syndicate.

Looper's Ending Is Closer to Perfect than Puzzling

Following the 2012 theatrical release of Looper, much was made about its timeline-altering ending. As the futuristic version of Joe hunts Sara and the young Rainmaker through a field, preparing to kill them with a shotgun, it dawns on present-day Joe that Sara's impending death is the reason her child grows into the Rainmaker. As the 25-year-old Joe thought to himself in the final act, "Then I saw it. I saw a mom that would die for her son. [I saw] a man that would kill for his wife. A boy angry and alone. Laid out in front of him, the bad path, I saw it. And the path was a circle.. [that went] round and round. So, I changed it."

Just then, the 25-year-old looper aimed the gun at himself and ended his life with a shot to the chest, removing his future self from existence, and ending a vicious cycle for good. Although many have criticized the movie's ending, citing that older Joe would never have been able to travel back in time and wreak havoc if his younger self died, the ending makes perfect sense. As Joe realized, Sara's death would have caused "a path that was a circle" and instead of letting it play out, he removed himself (and his older self) from the equation, setting a new path for Sara and her son. Additionally, for those who say Joe couldn't travel back if his younger self died, that is only partially true. What makes Loopersuch a compelling movie is that it tells a story that could occur exactly one time.

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In this story, Joe became a looper in his twenties who grew old and got married. Late in life, as is custom for all loopers, Joe is sent to the past for execution, though his innocent wife is killed during his capture. Seeking revenge, the retired looper escapes his execution and begins hunting down the Rainmaker before he is fully grown so that he can kill him to save his future wife. However, once his present-day version realizes that it is by way of his vengeful murder that the child grows into the Rainmaker, he ends his life and wipes his future self from existence.

So, as perplexing as it may seem, his older self wassent back in time, and it was through his hunt for revenge that his younger self realized he was creating a path of pain and destruction, so he changed it. Again, it's not that the story couldn't unfold this way, it's just that it couldn't happen twice, making Looperan innovative screenplay worthy of its critical acclaim.

Looper

In a dystopian future, where time travel exists but is illegal, "loopers" are hitmen sent back in time from 30 years in the future to execute targets and dispose of their bodies. Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a looper working in 2044, faces a life-altering moment when his future self (Bruce Willis) arrives for elimination. This future Joe reveals a dangerous secret and sets in motion a chain of events that could alter the future and threaten the existence of all loopers. As Joe grapples with his own fate and the potential consequences of his choices, he must confront his future self and find a way to break the cycle of violence and escape the loop.

DirectorRian Johnson

Release DateSeptember 28, 2012

StudioEndgame Entertainment

CastJeff Daniels, Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano

WritersRian Johnson

RatingR

Runtime118 minutes

Main GenreScience Fiction

GenresThriller, Action, Crime