Throwback Thursday Review: 'Looper'

Sorry for the delay, but welcome to my first Throwback Thursday Review of 2018! These next few months are going to be a little slow in regards to major releases, so I had some difficulty stringing together a slate of films to review each Thursday. However, there were quite a few Throwback Thursday Reviews from 2017 that never materialized (Looper included). Therefore, I'm incorporating them into my lineup. For those curious, I was originally going to review Looper the same week that Star Wars: The Last Jedi was released because both films were written and directed by Rian Johnson. I never really had a chance to sit down and rewatch the film though, so I decided to put off the review for later. As for upcoming January reviews, look forward to seeing Throwback Thursday Reviews of Paddington, The World's End, and The Shining, reviews of new releases Paddington 2, The Commuter, Proud Mary, 12 Strong, and Maze Runner: The Death Cure, and I'll be reviewing any films from 2017 that I missed out on as I watch them. 

'Looper' Review

Looper transports audiences to the bleak, distant future of 2044. Thirty years later, time travel will be invented, but is only available for those willing to pay on the black market. When the mob needs to eliminate someone, they send the target back in time thirty years to be assassinated by hitmen known as "loopers." In order to fulfill the terms of their contract, loopers must kill all their targets (including a future version of themselves). Once their future self is dead, their loop (contract) is closed and they've earned thirty years of luxurious retirement. A young looper named Joe is one of the most skilled in his profession. He does his job well, gets paid, and doesn't ask questions. That is, until he recognizes his future self on the job and hesitates... giving his older self just enough time to fight back and escape. Now that his loop's unclosed and his employers are quick in pursuit, Joe must find and eliminate his older self by any means necessary if he's going to safeguard the future and live out the rest of his life. 

Looper was written and directed by Rian Johnson as his third feature length film preceding Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Johnson's endless imagination and knack for creativity triumphantly shines through his stylistic storytelling. Johnson's ingenuity for taking an established idea, such as time travel, and uniquely incorporating it into his story is probably what landed him the Star Wars gig to begin with (on-top of being a talented director with a unique voice). Time travel is something that can go horribly wrong when handled incorrectly because of all the caveats and logistics of time paradoxes, but Johnson manages to minimize those issues and tell a story full of intellect and emotion.

Johnson put a great deal of care into imbuing understandable motivations for Joe and his older self, so audiences could grasp what each incarnation of Joe is fighting for, and even asks questions about identity and purpose one would expect in a story pitting a man against himself. It's all rather high concept, but deeply rooted in relatable terms. Joe and Old Joe each want to survive in order to accomplish a mission that's meaningful to them. What's so fascinating about all that is how each version of Joe is essentially fighting for the same thing (survival), but their desires drastically differ from one another. The older Joe thinks his life experience adds more credence to his quest while the younger Joe's inclination evolves from being simplistic to more complex the further involved he finds himself in the struggle. 

Johnson's narrative never loses sight of character, so the emotional beats resonate and it's easy to quickly latch onto the characters and the concept. Otherwise, the film might have gotten lost in the shuffle of weighty sci-fi elements. In regards to its technical prowess, Looper features accomplished cinematography, exceptional editing, great grungy production design, and an enriching original score from Nathan Johnson. The action's appropriately intense and the prosthetics used to help Joseph Gordon-Levitt better resemble Bruce Willis aren't half bad. 

Leading Looper, Joseph Gordon-Levitt exemplifies suave charisma to spare as Joe. Gordon-Levitt is simply an extraordinary actor capable of imbuing enough nuance to astound audiences as well as he charms them, and his role here is no exception to his slick streak. Thanks to a proficient prosthesis, muted mannerisms, and a strengthened resolve, you totally buy into the fact that Gordon-Levitt is playing a younger version of Bruce Willis.

On the other end of the spectrum, Bruce Willis seeps similar qualities into his portrayal of Old Joe. Willis' take on Joe is shaped by emotional trauma though, which allows Willis to demonstrate his skill in the realm of dramatic acting (something rarely seen from Willis these days). Willis finds a bold determination for the character amidst Joe's anger, pain, and strife that's subtly communicated to tremendous effect. 

Sprinkled among the ensemble are superb showings from supporting players Emily Blunt, Jeff Daniels, and Pierce Gagnon in the roles of Sara, Abe, and Cid. Blunt, in particular, shines as she exhibits a believable balance between being a strong, protective mother and an emotionally compromised one. Daniels steals nearly every scene he's in, while Gagnon adds his name to the mile long list of adept young actors I've watched recently. 

Looper is essentially a spiritual sibling to Inception because both films are intellectual, emotional, and pioneered by innovative minds. If there's one thing to be said about Rian Johnson, it's that he sure knows how to throw me for a loop!

Film Assessment: A

Throwback Thursday Review: 'Inception'

Sorry for the extreme delay in publishing this review. Before I begin, I'd like to update my readers on what's been going on behind the scenes. First off, I came up with an interesting idea for this review, but it just never took off, so that got abandoned. Secondly, Hurricane Harvey struck the Houston area back in August. This threw me off, of course, and I scarcely had time to sit down and work on reviews, much less any of my delayed ones. However, a sense of normalcy has long since established itself so I'm getting on to publishing these dreadfully delayed reviews online ASAP. Reviews you can expect to see in the near future include a Triple-R for Interstellar and Throwback Thursday Reviews over Stand By Me, The World's End, The Shining, the 1990 It miniseries, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Risky Business (1983).

'Inception' Review

Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best Original Screenplay, Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Original Score.

Won: Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing.

Inception follows Dom Cobb, a thief who utilizes shared dream technology to enter people's minds and steal secrets from their subconscious. This skill makes him incredibly useful in the world of corporate espionage, but has also been accompanied by substantial personal consequences for Cobb. While on an assignment, he's offered a chance at redemption so that he can finally return home and see his children again. All Cobb has to do is assemble a team to infiltrate the mind of a CEO and implant an idea in his mind. The task seems inconceivable, but the reward far outweighs the risk for Cobb, so he accepts and the quest to pull off the most impractical mind heist begins.

Inception was written and directed by auteur filmmaker Christopher Nolan, standing as his seventh feature length film and first follow up to the massive success of The Dark Knight. I think every successful storyteller has a defining point in their career where they prove themselves capable of more than just making remarkable movies, but also expanding exceptional, original ideas into fantastic feature length projects. For Nolan, I believe Inception is his quintessential film. 

I'm not necessarily stating Inception is his best work, but I believe it to be one of the defining points of his phenomenal filmography. I still haven't seen Following, Memento, Insomnia, or The Prestige so I can't quite speak on how those films impacted his career trajectory, but I do believe Inception exemplifies all the aforementioned points. 

For starters, everything originated from one of the most unique ideas ever brought to film that presents infinite opportunity for elaboration and development. What if people were able to infiltrate one-another's dreams? What would the implications of that be? What are the rules? Nolan knows all, and the fact he thought this all up still astounds me. It's wonderful world-building from the group up, and Nolan realizes he's gotta break it down for the viewer so he cleverly incorporates exposition in an incredibly interesting way. He shows as he tells, explaining the fundamentals clearly and concisely for those providing their full attention and willingness to think.  

Nolan doesn't forget that the human mind is complex though. He remembers that the past haunts us and our personal trauma will always trail behind, so he brilliantly pushes that idea forward as the driving narrative for our protagonist. The base premise of Inception centers on a heist, but at its core the film is all about letting go of the past. The way Nolan integrates this thread with the overarching story is utterly exceptional. The stakes in Inception remain personal in spite of elevated spectacle. Rather than focusing the film's climax entirely on the heist at hand, Nolan pits Cobb against the personal demons of his past, and forces him to confront them in an intense, emotionally charged resolution. 

Like nearly all of Nolan's other films, Inception is a masterpiece on a technical level with splendid cinematography, impressive editing, proficient practical production design, absolutely authentic visual effects work, superb sound mixing and editing, and a booming score from Hans Zimmer. There's not a single technical category that slouches amidst Nolan's especially ambitious magnum opus, and absolutely all of these involved elements have gone on to be incredibly influential (just look to last year's Doctor Strange for evidence of that).

Time is a reoccurring element in virtually all of Nolan's work. Though the way Nolan compounds time within the layers of dreams in Inception's pivotal dream-heist is simply astounding. Every talked-about technical technique accentuates the tension and importance of the cerebral stickup, but the sense of urgency is only emphasized and amplified by these filmmaking instruments, not fabricated by it. This perception that time elongates within each layer is best communicated through the slo-motion sequencing and tempo fluctuations in Zimmer's score. 

As for Inception's illustrious ensemble, the all-star talent bring their A-game. Accomplished actors including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Dileep Rao, Cillian Murphy, and Michael Caine each provide sufficient substance to their respective roles and make especially favorable impressions with every moment onscreen. 

However, it's Leonardo DiCaprio and Marion Cotillard who practically run away with the movie. DiCaprio absolutely authenticates Cobb's struggle to distinguish fiction from reality, and the fact his mind is constantly responsible for undermining his plans only strengthens the struggle. One outburst from him, in particular, is so powerful that you can feel Cobb's pain resonate through the screen. It's one of DiCaprio's few performances that exemplifies such a poignant balance between intellect, emotion, and subtle nuance. Cotillard is able to match him emotional beat-for-emotional beat though, demonstrating a strengthened resolve and etherealness to play Mel as a faint shadow of the woman Cobb remembers loving. She finds a strange sweet-spot between seeming real and unreal, so the viewer (like Cobb) will also have difficulty differentiating the hallucinations from flesh and blood.

Aside from expanding audience's minds in 2010, Inception stretched the limits of efficiently executing and innovating a director's most inconceivable abstraction. I realize I've used adjectives like "brilliant," "exceptional," and "astounding" quite often in this review, but there's simply no other way to describe Nolan's craftsmanship. He continually pushes the boundaries of every element of filmmaking to consistently deliver intellectually-stimulating entertainment. Inception remains to be ample evidence of just that, and so much more!

Film Assessment: A+

'Snowden' Review

Snowden is a dramatic biopic detailing Edward Snowden's decision to leak classified government intelligence that revealed the National Security Administration's illegal surveillance methods and his journey towards that choice.

Oliver Stone directs the film adding another political drama to his filmography about controversial figures in history, dramatizing the real life events quite effectively. The film's best moments were the transitional scenes narrated by Joseph Gordon Levitt's monotone Snowden that championed interesting visualization of website data, media clips, and NSA data collection in order to express what the CIA and NSA were up to at those points in time.

Unfortunately, the screenplay written by Stone and cowriter Kieran Fitzgerald leaned heavily towards Snowden's viewpoint failing to show the other side of that coin and restricting the viewer insight into the real controversial bits of the narrative. Snowden breezes through substantial chunks of Edward Snowden's life in the service and has some odd pacing for the first two-thirds and the non-chronological storytelling adds to the somewhat jarring viewing experience as the film will occasionally jump back to the present day. The screenplay also tosses around some relationship drama between Snowden and his girlfriend which are imperative for the purposes of understanding Snowden and also manage to clout the film, as though there's two different types of narratives within Snowden; a romance and a triller.

Joseph Gordon Levitt provides a very strong lead performance as Edward Snowden and helps the viewer maintain focus in the film's dull moments. Levitt not only looks like Snowden but he manages to mimic his voice quite effectively while expertly portraying Snowden conflicted nature.

Shailene Woodley gives one of her best performances to date as Snowden's girlfriend Lindsay Mills and exemplified great chemistry opposite Levitt. Snowden also features name talent in supporting roles of varying sizes including Rhys Ifans, Nicolas Cage, Tom Wilkinson, Scott Eastwood, and Zachary Quinto who are all great in the capacity used.

In conclusion, Snowden is an insightful and informative look at government surveillance that's both well directed and well performed, but it's one-sided stance cripples the effectiveness of it's message.

Film Assessment: C+

Throwback Thursday Review: 'The Dark Knight Rises'

This week I'll be concluding my series of Throwback Thursday Reviews of The Dark Knight Trilogy with my review of The Dark Knight Rises. Next week look forward to a continuation of my Harry Potter Throwback Thursday Reviews with my review of  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and the following week I will review Saving Private Ryan since Sully, a film starring Tom Hanks will be released. In the meantime, I'm currently unsure of Ben-Hur (2016) and this weekends releases so I may review a few of those films and I may not, it just depends on if I find time to see these releases. However, I did watch Sing Street recently and plan to post a review relatively soon in addition to a post detailing what I believe to be the 5 Hidden Gems & 5 Biggest Disasters of the summer movie season.

'The Dark Knight Rises' Review

The Dark Knight Rises is the epic conclusion to Christopher Nolan's exceptional Dark Knight Trilogy, finishing strong despite not living up to it's predecessors. The Dark Knight Rises takes place eight years after the events of The Dark Knight where the audience finds that the Batman hasn't been seen in some time, Bruce Wayne remains secluded in his estate, and the streets are cleared thanks to the prop-up of Harvey Dent as Gotham's hero but everything changes when a brute cunning terrorist Bane arrives on the scene to terrorize Gotham. 

Unfortunately, The Dark Knight Rises has gone down as the weak link in the Dark Knight Trilogy, when in fact it's a lot better than people give it credit for. Yes, the film has problems. There are quite a few plot-holes, and it's certainly not perfect, but it's entertaining and takes the journey Nolan began with Batman Begins full circle. Nolan once again directs the film and co-wrote the screenplay with brother Jonathan Nolan and shared story duties alongside David Goyer. The writers ensure the realized world they've created remains intact as they continue to inject both complex characters and intellectual themes.

Nolan and cinematographer Wally Pfizer brings some of their most striking visuals to date and the editing from Lee Smith helps to intersperse feelings of suspense throughout the film's runtime. Another element Nolan carries over is a reliance of practicality with believable action sequences and awesome gadgets for the Batman to utilize including the latest new vehicle, the Bat. As for the sound, Hans Zimmer brings about another exceptional score for the series that 's the epitome of the word epic. 

The performances from the capable cast are once again a highlight and some supporting characters get more time to shine. Christian Bale gets to do much more acting outside the suit as opposed to the preceding installments, and he brings a dynamic physical change in this film when he bulks up for his final confrontation with Bane. Bale's Bruce Wayne is made a more focal part of the story, a welcome change considering how character driven it made the story, while his Batman is terrific as well, showcasing Bale's ability to handle the duality of the role with relative ease. 

Michael Caine brings more sentiment to Alfred as his willingness to ensure Bruce carries on the Wayne legacy is brought to the forefront. Morgan Freeman is terrific in his role of Lucius Fox and Gary Oldman continued to be an excellent Gordon. 

Newcomers Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt all have scene stealing moments as the enigmatic Selina Kyle, sophisticated Miranda Tate, and courageous John Blake. 

Admittedly, the biggest letdown in The Dark Knight Rises is without a doubt Bane. Tom Hardy's Bane is ruthless as he exhibits wit, brute strength, and a strategic mind in his fight to take Gotham, but a third act twist neuters the character of everything that made him so fascinating as he's ousted to merely be a love-sick henchman. Tom Hardy certainly exemplified physicality and intellect to make for an intellectual and physical threat when compared to the hulking abomination in Batman and Robin. However, the mask he wears makes some of his dialogue discernible. Hardy's Bane was never going to be able to live up to the complex anarchist nature of Heath Ledger's Joker, but he does quite well with what he had to work with. 

The Dark Knight Rises may be remembered as the worst film in the trilogy, but it's not inherently bad at all, and actually is a very competent piece of filmmaking due to the talent involved both in front of and behind the camera. If anything, the reality that The Dark Knight Rises doesn't measure up to the previous installments goes to show just how amazing those films are, considering how terrific the conclusion to the Dark Knight Trilogy proved to be. 

Film Assessment: B+