Originally Posted by
JasonEvans
Ok, I think that the movie has been out for a full weekend and we can now discuss the plot and story without worrying about spoiling it for people.
1) Time Travel - I found a few inconsistencies in the time travel storyline -- the moment Seth (his Looper friend, played by Paul Dano) let his future self go, he began embarking down a path that would not allow him to ever travel back in time and be let go by his past self. What's more, as soon as the Doctor gets a hold of Seth and begins chopping off body parts (what a freaking awesome storyline that was!!!) it has a major impact on Seth's ability to become future-Seth who then comes back in time and walks away from present-Seth. Especially once the Doctor amputates his legs! At that point, it becomes impossible for future-Seth to ever walk away from present-Seth. I wasn't really bothered much by it at the time, but as I left the theater and began thinking about the movie, it really puzzled me.
I am not sure how Time Travel deals with incongruities like these. Another major one affects Joe's entire story. Think about this. Joe kills himself to prevent future-Joe from killing Sara and turning Sid into the Rainmaker. But, the moment Joe kills himself, there is no longer a threat to Sara and Sid which means it is not necessary for Joe to kill himself any more. Does future-Joe only cease to exist moving forward on the timeline or do his actions from the past few days (killing Jeff Daniels and all his men and killing the little kid,) no longer happen either? Does "Time" correct for the fact that future-Joe can no longer come back in time to do all this stuff? And, again, if he cannot come back then there is no reason for present-Joe to kill himself. It is a time travel paradox loop and, as someone said in the movie, it makes your head hurt thinking about it.
2) Loopers - The movie was never too clear about why bodies could not be disposed of in the future, but if that is the case, I can buy that. Darthur is right that the Asian woman who becomes Joe's wife is a major boo-boo in that regard. No reason you can kill her and leave her body behind as evidence but not do the same thing with future-Joe. I am not sure why they are constantly able to capture the future-Loopers alive either. Seems they would fight like crazy to not be sent back and killed by themselves and, as a result, they could get killed in the course of being captured. Why do we never hear about that happening? What's more, I would think it would be really hard to capture them as they know their 30 years of "living the good life" are about to be up and they will probably be armed to the teeth and prepared for someone coming to get them. Still, this is the premise of the movie and I suppose I can buy it.
3) Rainmaker - It was clear to me that The Rainmaker becomes who he is because his mother, Sara, is killed by a Looper. With her by his side he can probably learn to control his incredible power and not be a bad dude. It was also clear to me that the Rainmaker was extracting vengeance on the Loopers for his mother's death. Recall from early in the movie that Joe comments about a lot of future-Loopers are being sent back to "have their loop closed." I think that as the Rainmaker comes to power, he starts killing off as many Loopers as he can find. He hates them all for killing his mother. In fact, one could even argue that he turns to a life of crime specifically so he can get access to the Loopers and kill them all.
4) Joe's Solution - While it was a dramatic moment and a big surprise to the audience, I think Joe had other options aside from suicide. He could have shot his hand off, making it impossible for future-Joe to hold the gun and kill Sara. It also occurs to me that everything Joe knows is also known instantly by future-Joe, right? They make reference to this when future-Joe stops short of killing the stripper's son because present-Joe has just seen Sid's powers and figured out that he is the Rainmaker. So, if future-Joe knows everything present-Joe knows, then the moment present-Joe suddenly sees the Rainmaker's creation and decides to kill himself, future-Joe should stop trying to kill the Rainmaker and Sara. Get it? Joe does not need to kill himself because the moment he recognizes that he created the Rainmaker, the threat to the Rainmaker is gone.
Like the movie said, thinking about all this time travel stuff can really bake your noodle. I am not sure any time travel story, especially one where you are interacting with your past or future self, can ever really work when held up to this much scrutiny. The paradoxes and loops of logic are just too much to make work. But, I still loved the film and thought it did an excellent job with this stuff.
--Jason "ok, now I want to hear from you guys about all this stuff... what a great film to discuss!" Evans