Films have less than three hours to cram in enough plot, dialogue, character development and location, along with whatever special flavor the director wants to add, to get our tiny brains to understand the story and why it's important. In addition, because there's money on the line, these films have to do all of those things well. For some films, there's often just not enough time to put in extra scenes detailing background facts, and while trying to expose them in tiny, cameo-sized pieces is often the best way to reveal, it can be confusing and is in danger of becoming overused itself. This often is because the plot takes a backseat to intense visuals and sweet action scenes.
So some time ago I went and saw Looper.
It's a film that heavily relies on expository text to identify time and place. However, the fast pace of the movie leaves no room for establishment scenes. The story moves like water gushing from a broken dam, blasting its way through narration, text, quick cut visuals and sound. Now, I know you think you know where I'm going with this, so just hear me out. Believe it or not, I'm not going to rip through this movie, complaining about its haphazard use of time travel and cheap storytelling methods; in fact this movie has my respect strictly because it uses all those things, and here's why.
Let's think about some great, fairly recent science fiction blockbusters whose premise involves some kind of as-yet uninvented technology that is widely accepted in one way or another: In Minority Report, Tom Cruise spends half an hour walking and talking us through the idea of using precognitive crack babies to prevent crime. THEN the story begins. In The Island, Ewan MacGregor and Scarlett Johannsen take almost an hour to get to why exactly having a sentient clone of yourself in the world is not such a great idea. And Prometheus, much though I love it for its own special reasons, spends the entire movie meandering around the very idea that draws us to it in the first place.
Here's why I like Looper, without giving away too much of the plot for those of you planning on RedBoxing it later. From the very opening, Looper sits you down in a chair and says, "Okay, look. Time travel has been invented. No. Shut up, don't think about it yet. Here's the thing, only mobsters use it. No, don't--It doesn't matter why. This guy's past self comes back, needs to get some stuff done, but Joseph Gordon-Leavitt can't let that happen--HEY! Fuckin', just pay attention will you? Now here's the crux of the thing..." You're trying to dissect the implications and mechanics of the time travel during the whole movie, but at the same time the film is screaming at you that it doesn't matter, the story is what matters most. This movie has a lot of themes--the importance of family, sacrifice, love, the impotence of revenge--and at the end of the day, that is what Looper is there to deliver. Not an endorsement, not compelling visuals or thrilling action; those things are just tools to keep us interested in the idea. The action is used like punctuation marks, making it all the more striking and terrifying. Looper comes to deliver a great story which is true in its themes, through a medium more effective than most. I can appreciate its use of shortcuts because of its honest dedication to story, character and theme.
Now this movie didn't win any awards and I'm not saying it deserves to. At its heart Looper is still a blockbuster action film only produced because it seemed commercially viable to some big wigs in California. But perhaps this thematic dedication will come to reflect a new trend in film, one in which plot and characterization take precedence over the temporal significance of fast cars, sexy women, hardbitten action stars with shotguns and glocks--
*sigh* Nah, I didn't think so either. But a girl can hope, right?
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