Film Revisitations: Looper (2012)

In today's entertainment industry, time travel has become a concept often used in the mainstream -  what with geek culture getting a larger spotlight thanks to the immense success of the likes of superhero movies, science-fiction shows and nostalgic properties – with the trope being used in a range of films of genres, going from something simple like Mr Peabody and Sherman and Hot Tub Time Machine to something a little more complex such as Interstellar and X-Men: Days of Future Past. And fitting into that latter category sits Rian Johnson's Looper, whose entire plot relies on the time travel aspect to a degree where things don't entirely make sense if you know little or quite a bit about the time travel concept. But now that he's progressed from his indie routes and brief jump into the mainstream to headlining the eighth instalment in the Star Wars franchise, let us revisit his big foray into the science-fiction genre with the awards-hungry Joseph Gordon-Levitt and the hit-needing Bruce Willis. 

In the future, Joe (Levitt) is a Looper – an assassin of sorts, hired by the mob of the further future to dispose of those who've done them wrong after they send the wronged back in time via an illegal time machine. Paid handsomely with silver blocks and with a retirement in France in his sights, he and his fellow Loopers begin to notice a trend of increasing closed loops; in which a Looper kills his future self, gets given a gold payment and left to their own devices for 30 years before the mob send them back. Fail to close that loop, and the gang of the present use their younger self to grab him (as shown via a somewhat gruesome sequence with Paul Dano's older incarnation Frank Brennan). But when Joe's older self (Willis) turns up and swiftly escapes on his quest to kill the child Rain Maker, young Joe must hide away from his employers and kill his older self before it's too late. His plan? Hide out in one of the locations he's looking for – where Emily Blunt's Sara looks after her son Cid (Pierce Gagnon) - and hope that his older self finds him before his boss does.

With Looper, it's best to ignore some of the basic time travel rules that you've learnt from the past decade or so of movies and television. While its entire focus is that time is in flux, it doesn't follow time being rewritten in the sense that you'd think in Doctor Who episodes or Back to the Future, nor does it go by fate a la Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Sure, it borrows some elements – especially as it nears its end – but paradoxically it does begin to break down...and I know that logic should really be thrown out the window when it comes to movies, but when focusing on a theory which has been a part of the medium for at least a century, it does deserve some scrutiny. That said, with a storyline which is both simplistic and enticing, you do have a good sell, and thankfully the entertaining aspects such as the well-choreographed action sequences and visual effects. 

Which brings me on to my next compliment: Rian Johnson is a great choice for a Star Wars director, as evident by his work here. Combined with his efforts with the film's cinematographer, you have not only a good looking film (with the somewhat slumdog dystopia being well-dressed and the film never looking particularly fake) but a well-made one too, with all the elements combining together to make something that's both smart and predominantly a popcorn flick. So yeah, with that in mind Star Wars is in safe hands. 

With Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the lead role, the elephant in the room should be discussed first – the make up job on him to make him resemble Bruce Willis. Sadly, it's far too noticeable and eye-catching, so it can at times detract from what's going on just to see JGL with weird eyebrows. But bad make-up job aside, he does make for a strong if not incredibly likable lead. Willis on the other hand has very little to him. Sure, we see what makes him turn from Levitt to the revenge-seeking killer we see him as throughout, and those moments where he goes after kids are played straight, but other than that he's there just for plot reasons (obviously) you aren't entirely invested in him. Meanwhile, lead female character Emily Blunt has a good enough accent and adds some much needed gender diversity to the mix (seeing as the only other noteworthy female is Piper Perabo's single mother/stripper and has little screentime), but is a likable character in her own right thanks to her motherly approach towards son Cid. Speaking of which, I ask you this: how often is it that the child actor is the best thing here? Gagnon (Tomorrowland: A World Beyond) is a tour de force here, breaking the usual conventions for actors his age and actually acting. Perhaps helped by the fact that he's involved in the film's most iconic scene, but he's just stellar here.  

As for the side characters, there's litte to comment on. As aforementioned, Perabo barely has anything to do, but neither does Jeff Daniels in what could have been a particularly meaty role. Noah Segan is more annoying than anything as Kid Blue; Paul Dano is sadly disposed of quickly so we don't get enough time to see his character, and seeing as Xu Qing is only involved in flashbacks we can only comment on the fleeting glimpses we have of her.

Looper is a film that succeeds where other films fail, but falters where they usually do well. It looks great, is well-paced and superbly edited, and acting-wise there isn't a bad performance in sight. But the characters are barely interesting and the logical side of things that science-fiction films strive on needed some further rectifying before the film entered principal photography. That being said, Looper is a fun film with actual substance. Its missteps only help it succeed all the more, and while not great deserves at least a bit more recognition. 7/10.  

Doctor Who Series 9 Reviews - The Witch's Familiar (E2)

WARNING: Due to the nature of this episode, this review will contain spoilers - I recommend reading it after you watch the episode if you do not wish to be spoiled from any of the major plotlines present in this episode.

With Clara, Missy and the TARDIS apparently meeting their doom and the Doctor willing to kill the child incarnation of Davros by the end of the enjoyable but largely-flawed The Magician's Apprentice last week, the audience reached something of a middle ground with series executive producer and writer Steven Moffat – that is to say the fan-based audience did, going by the diminishing overnight viewing figures which have put the BBC in such a state that they're repeating it in a feature-lengthed format with this episode the following day. That middle ground being the continuous following of continuity, thanks partially to an opening reminiscent of other Moffat scribed stories The Pandorica Opens and A Good Man Goes to War, and standard tropes that the divisive screenwriter has come to rely on since taking over the mantle from Russell T Davies five years prior. With that, fans could overlook aspects like the terrible creation that is Missy and having a child version of an important character and instead enjoy the return of Davros' megalomania and a intriguing cliffhanger. But can the continuation of a cliffhanger that doesn't hold up all much when death is such a diminishing factor in the show these days lead to a satisfying conclusion, or will it all be for nothing and signify what kind of series of serials we've got in store for us this season? 

Opening quite quickly after the events of last week with an exposition overload courtesy of everyone's favourite living nightmare Missy (Michelle Gomez) to a tied-up Clara (Jenna Coleman), the duo begin their travel back to the Dalek city – with Clara taking a page from Ian Chesterton's book from 1963's The Daleks – while the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) continues his verbal attack on the decadent Dalek creator (Julian Bleach), as he demands that Clara is returned to him. But as he and Davros begin to bond over mortality and potential genocide, the question remains: will the Doctor go back to kill the younger Davros (Joey Price) to save his presumably dead comrades? Or will he and Davros finally bond over something? 

The thing about this second half is that it's biggest crime is how little actually happens in it. While last week went all over the galaxy alongside all of time and space with multiple plot threads, this week kept to two – Missy and Clara returning to the Doctor, and the Doctor and Davros talking. Now, less can often mean more, but when the most engaging thing in the entire episode is the Doctor stealing Davros' seat in an admittedly well-written scene, that can be a worrisome thing; especially when the whole focus of the episode revolves around the dynamic between him and Davros, where you can just see all the plotlines bending into shape when they aren't cop-outs of any kind. If the whole thing was as engaging as Doctor-Davros saying the usual "I'm the Doctor, just accept it" malarkey, then perhaps we'd have a different tale to tell, but sadly not. While the sewer/graveyard segment is just screaming out "RELEVANT" and offers Asylum of the Daleks parallels, it doesn't offer us anything else outside of a way to get Missy and Clara back into the plot...and yet not actually putting them back into the story. They return, Missy tries her hand at being annoyingly evil and actually comes close to succeeding, then pops off again for a tantalising teaser where she'll try and escape again. It's such a waste of the only female characters in this half of the story. 

But let's return to the selling point of the entire episode – the Doctor and Davros, along with his feeble attempt at tricking the Doctor into using up a regeneration to turn his Daleks into Dalek-Time Lord hybrids...wait, didn't that happen in Evolution of the Daleks back in Series 3? And didn't they question the whole killing thing before being killed by Dalek Caan? Anywho, while the actual effect made by Davros' trickery ended up being somewhat lacklustre, the journey was at least appealing in some areas. The dynamic between hero and villain when explored correctly can always work really well – think to things like Batman and the Joker; Thor and Loki; The Doctor and any Master who isn't Missy – and the one with Davros in the past has always worked so well. You look back at classics like Genesis of the Daleks, Resurrection of the Daleks and even Journey's End and you get to see these little glimmers of excellence. And here, when given an entire episode to explore that, they do...to an extent. Before it went into the emotional area, things were good, but then it did get better – until Davros opened his eyes. You know, that wrinkly bit on his face where his eyes should be? Turns out they’ve just been closed the entire time, but he opened them just so he can get the Doctor to regenerate for him so he can live for a tad longer. It's sound like I really hate this, but I don't – like I said, this is the main part of the episode, and at times can be a real highlight. But the fact that it's pulled out from under our feet in the end in a rushed finale, alongside the fan in me rejecting the idea that Davros still has eyes, is what makes all this so disappointing – there's potential for something great, and the obvious ploy from Davros reminds of just how conniving he is shows how merciless he is (funny that, as the ideology of mercy comes to play in the last five minutes), but having the Doctor know anyway and know about the Dalek sewers and what they do? Then have Missy turn up like a deus ex machina, poke Davros in his fake eye the run off back into her irrelevant subplot? It makes the whole thing feel like a big waste of time outside of reminding audiences that "hey, Davros still exists!". 

At least the biggest compliment that this story can offer is its actors. As per usual, Capaldi excels as the Doctor who still doesn't feel like his own character (there's still quite a bit of Matt Smith in him, and it isn't helped by the new 'sonic sunglasses' which may be a thing from now on...please don't be) and he bounces off everyone superbly; Coleman does her best in a role which really doesn't have any purpose outside of "be here" and showing off the apparent way Daleks avoid emotions - going against the idea that the whole concept was removed from them – and Gomez is still a good actress but a terrible character. Missy is a pantomime character on ecstasy with no appeal whatsoever, and every near-extermination comes with a "Damnit" from the audience. Granted, it's nice we get a semi-explanation for her escape in Death in Heaven, but aside from that? There only for fan service, just like Clara's only there to be credited and to  be thought as dead soon after her leaving announcement is done. As for Bleach, he remains the biggest success of the bunch – not much else to say about that. And when it comes to the Daleks? Well, they're there. They chat a bit, Clara hides in one, the Doctor come close to shooting her despite how obvious Missy is, and...yeah, that's about it for the Daleks. No explanation for the classic versions nor major purpose just like in Asylum of the Daleks, and really just there to appeal to Terry Nation's estate. 

Despite its numerous flaws, I enjoyed The Magician's Apprentice. This week on the other hand, it just feels like we're back on autopilot for this era of Doctor Who. With the whole first part wasted for a slow-going conclusion which never really goes anywhere despite its valiant attempts, it instead trudges across its variables and struggles to place them in the right places – like a toddler doing his first jigsaw. Despite good performances, occasionally funny dialogue and a dynamic which, for the most part, succeeds in continuing the show's tradition, it becomes bogged down by the usual fare that this era of the show is plagued with, and lends itself to a rather rushed conclusion and feeble attempt at tying plot threads together. If this is how the rest of the series is going to be, then we're certainly in for a bumpy ride. 5/10.