• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.

I just watched Looper and it was a disaster (spoilers)

Mórríoghain

Mórríoghain

Member
Nov 2, 2017
5,144
I am not even talking about inconsistent "time travel rules". I just can't understand why the mob would need loopers? I feel like I am missing something:

Why can't the mob send a guy back to 2044 not to start this looper business but to build a giant incinerator, and send people directly in that from the future? This way the mob doesn't have to deal with coked-out assassins and closing the loop stuff. Just have one dude who cleans up afterward and send their payment directly after. Mob has a time travel machine in an abandoned warehouse, I think they can spare the resources to spool that thing twice for each "hit". Besides they wouldn't be paying thousands of dollars worth of bars to the loopers.

Am I missing something or is this movie ass?
 
Rover

Rover

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,417
I enjoyed it more than Primer, which I sometimes think is the same movie based on the titles feeling a little interchangeable
 
Mockerre

Mockerre

Story Director
Verified
Oct 30, 2017
630
Mórríoghain said:
I am not even talking about inconsistent "time travel rules". I just can't understand why the mob would need loopers? I feel like I am missing something:

Why can't the mob send a guy back to 2044 not to start this looper business but to build a giant incinerator, and send people directly in that from the future? This way the mob doesn't have to deal with coked-out assassins and closing the loop stuff. Just have one dude who cleans up afterward and send their payment directly after. Mob has a time travel machine in an abandoned warehouse, I think they can spare the resources to spool that thing twice for each "hit". Besides they wouldn't be paying thousands of dollars worth of bars to the loopers.

Am I missing something or is this movie ass?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

No, it's just a Rian Johnson movie.
 
THEVOID

THEVOID

Prophet of Regret
Member
Oct 27, 2017
22,841
So it's basically every time travel movie. They all have holes in them, but they are fun as hell.
 
AcidCat

AcidCat

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,410
Bellingham WA
Almost any movie you can talk yourself out of buying into the premise. Why didn't they just do X instead of Y??!! Great way to self-sabotage your potential enjoyment of a film.
 
hordak

hordak

Member
Oct 31, 2017
2,532
Anaheim, CA
Mórríoghain said:
No but I am not digging holes in its time travel rules or anything. I just can't fuck with the idea of loopers. It is so stupid, why would you need them?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
It's not as stupid as this movie premise but we all collectively said, sure why not, and watch three of them (although some of you hate the last 2 cause you suck :P)

164b7f93f2674b0a0e520e5b44d58daf_S.jpg
 
Xe4

Xe4

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,295
I'm fairly certain that the movie explains very early on that tracking systems make it incredibly difficult to dispose of bodies in the future without getting caught.
 
Ramala

Ramala

Member
Oct 28, 2017
6,042
Santa Monica, LA
Mórríoghain said:
I am not even talking about inconsistent "time travel rules". I just can't understand why the mob would need loopers? I feel like I am missing something:

Why can't the mob send a guy back to 2044 not to start this looper business but to build a giant incinerator, and send people directly in that from the future? This way the mob doesn't have to deal with coked-out assassins and closing the loop stuff. Just have one dude who cleans up afterward and send their payment directly after. Mob has a time travel machine in an abandoned warehouse, I think they can spare the resources to spool that thing twice for each "hit". Besides they wouldn't be paying thousands of dollars worth of bars to the loopers.

Am I missing something or is this movie ass?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Loopers having to kill themselves is some badass mythological shit. It elevates the Loopers. Maybe it's simply all about reputation.
 
Stooge

Stooge

Member
Oct 29, 2017
11,136
The biggest problem with the film is the final scene at the farm just falls completely flat.
 
OP
OP
Mórríoghain

Mórríoghain

Member
Nov 2, 2017
5,144
Xe4 said:
I'm fairly certain that the movie explains very early on that tracking systems make it incredibly difficult to dispose of bodies in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

That's why they are sending people back to the past so the loopers can kill them. I am saying, eliminate the whole looper business, send those people back directly into an incinerator or in a pool with their hands tied, I dunno.
 
ArjanN

ArjanN

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,106
Eh, like a lot of sci-fi they came up with a neat idea and then worked backwards to loosely justify it. Time travel in general doesn''t hold up to critical thinking and the movie lampshades this (although to be fair that doesn't really give it a pass)
 
Last edited:

CrunchyB

Member
Oct 29, 2017
1,107
I was an ok movie but it required an enormous amount of suspension of disbelief for me to enjoy it. Like OP says, it makes no sense at all.

Only Back to the Future had worse mechanics (the progress-indicator photo in particular), but that movie is incredibly entertaining.
 
Xe4

Xe4

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,295
Mórríoghain said:
No, it is for the future. That's why they are sending people back to the past so the loopers can kill them. I am saying, eliminate the whole looper business, send those people directly into an incinerator or in a pool with their hands tied, I dunno.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Ah, I see your issue.

I'm not sure, to be honest. I suspect someone is going to have to deal with the bodies at some point, whether its something as simple as operating and cleaning the incinerator, to ensure it is on when people end up in it.

Plus, with Loopers, they can easily track that the people sent back were indeed killed instead of escaping, which would be more difficult to tell if they just went into an incinerator.

I'm not particularly bothered by it, as it seemed to me like the kind of overconvoluted scheme a criminal organization would actually operate. Other things in the film definitely bugged me more, though I generally really liked it.
 
Last edited:
CloudWolf

CloudWolf

Member
Oct 26, 2017
15,594
The thing with Looper is that you shouldn't think too much about it. Sure, with the rules stated within the movie itself the ending wouldn't be possible, but it doesn't really matter.

One thing I still do not like about Looper though is the telekinesis stuff. I'm still not sure why that's even in it. It leads to one cool scene with Garret Dillahunt exploding, but overall I feel you could cut the TK stuff from the film entirely and not miss any major beats.
 
Gustaf

Gustaf

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
14,926
CloudWolf said:
The thing with Looper is that you shouldn't think too much about it. Sure, with the rules stated within the movie itself the ending wouldn't be possible, but it doesn't really matter.

One thing I still do not like about Looper though is the telekinesis stuff. I'm still not sure why that's even in it. It leads to one cool scene with Garret Dillahunt exploding, but overall I feel you could cut the TK stuff from the film entirely and not miss any major beats.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

well the point is that Cid used his powers to take over the Crime syndicates and started killing off all the loopers so his aunt wouln;t die no?

i agree it could be just him taking over , but i guess is a way to show why he did so easily and throw some cool scenes
 
Realyst

Realyst

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,163
Mórríoghain said:
That's why they are sending people back to the past so the loopers can kill them. I am saying, eliminate the whole looper business, send those people back directly into an incinerator or in a pool with their hands tied, I dunno.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I always took it as a message to the loopers. You know, so that they remain loyal.
 
Aranjah

Aranjah

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,185
Rover said:
I enjoyed it more than Primer, which I sometimes think is the same movie based on the titles feeling a little interchangeable
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I actually was thinking of Primer when I entered the thread and was reading the OP like "did I misunderstand that even more than I thought? I don't remember any of these plot points!"
 
DeoGame

DeoGame

Member
Dec 11, 2018
5,077
I feel the same way toward Looper the same way I do towards every non-Brothrrs Bloom Rian Johnson movie (and even that one to an extent): much of it can be a thrill in the moment, but the suspension of disbelief he requires is way too high, and his scripts often contradict each other wildly. Like, to the point it actually gets under my skin. IDK, all power to those who love, but I'm with OP on this.
 
SatoAilDarko

SatoAilDarko

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,824
Agreed. So many things didn't make sense. I can look past some plot holes but not when it's the entirety of the plot. I deeply disliked this movie. Which is a shame as I own and enjoyed Brick.
 
Uncle Squingis

Uncle Squingis

Member
Jan 3, 2018
3,404
Why would you need an incinerator? Send them back in the middle of a large body of water. Or from a plane. The mob can get their hands on a time machine but not a frickin plane?

Also if the body tagging system makes it hard to dispose of bodies, you'd think there would be a huge investigation if a tag suddenly disappeared back in time.
 
Last edited:
Mahonay

Mahonay

Member
Oct 25, 2017
33,316
Pencils Vania
I love fucking love Looper even if you have to turn your mind off for some of it. It's a high quality Blockbuster movie that doesn't feel insulting.
 
Noodle

Noodle

Banned
Aug 22, 2018
3,427
I thought it was pretty bad. Terrible pacing. There came a point where I thought "ok, something has to happen right now to move the plot forward otherwise we're well into directionless meandering by any standard".

Also, lampshading "don't think about time travel too closely" doesn't excuse such a weak and flimsy premise with gaps you could drive a bus through.
 
Pyccko

Pyccko

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,868
all I know is that part where paul dano starts losing body parts was pretty fucking horrific
 
OrangeAtlas

OrangeAtlas

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,107
I too would love to watch a 2 hour film where people get dropped into swimming pools and there's no characters or conflict.
 

gully state

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,990
You can't introduce logical inconsistencies and then tell the audience to not worry about it as justification....absolutely hated when the movie did that. The movie had some nice visuals but was incredibly overrated.
 
Schlorgan

Schlorgan

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,932
Salt Lake City, Utah
I hate to break it to you guys, but time travel isn't real and doesn't actually have hard rules that need to be followed.

Whatever rules it is given are for the sole purpose of driving the story.

So who gives a shit?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.