My wife and I (finally) saw Looper at our favorite local cheap theater last night. It was released on DVD/Blu-Ray today, so hopefully my timing isn't too untimely.
There were two issues that I drug up this thread to research. The first, why the Rainmaker's henchmen killed Joe's wife (when it is apparently a huge deal to kill someone in 2074), was already addressed here. Not only that, but why would the henchmen carry traditional guns if killing people is not a viable option in 2074? I guess they could shoot them in the leg or something to make them easier to tie up. It seems like there would be better tools for that job. If I were Joe and I knew they were going through a bunch of trouble to send him back in time and pay a contracted killer from the past, I'm not particularly worried about being shot by a henchman.
The other issue is why Sarah got concerned when Joe told her he was a looper. How does she know what a looper is? This seemed significant at the time, but we never got any other indication that she was concerned or connected with time travel or crime organizations. Did I miss something?
Overall, it was very entertaining. I agree that it was a little on the dark side for my tastes. I have to admit (not trying to go PPB here) that after the events of recent weeks, this was the first time that I felt a little guilty about watching such a violent film. I'm not sure that old Joe shooting his way through all of the gat men added anything to the plot at all. I certainly didn't need any more proof that old Joe was motivated to save his wife. His shooting the first Rainmaker candidate was enough proof for me. If Looper was set to release the next few months, I wonder if that scene would have been edited out.