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| I'll keep Marty McFly and the Back to the Future paradoxes over those ones that drove me insane by watching Looper. |
But aside from that, the ending left me really confused. JGL's character commits suicide at the end of the movie to PREVENT his older self from performing an act that sets the future on a course that he does not like. But I don't get how this solves anything? By killing himself, his older self doesn't exist thereby creating the reason for him taking this action in the first place.
Plus, the whole "kill yourself to change time" trope has been done a lot. Dr. Who's "Angels take Manhattan" did the same thing. Star Trek did it in "Yesterday's Enterprise" and in "Year of Hell." It happened in Terminator 2.
So on another level, the trope was incredibly unoriginal.
I don't think I like time travel without Michael J. Fox. At least then it was funny and Michael was charming.
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| This remake handled time travel really well, even if it was underwhelming (and short) as a film. |
Why couldn't Looper embrace this? Why couldn't Looper have seen that JGL needed to stop Bruce Willis in a way that didn't kill himself. And why the hell wouldn't Bruce Willis have JGL's epiphany suddenly pop into his mind so that he would know that what he was about to do would set the future on a course that his younger self did not like?
Anyway, overall I think I liked Joseph Gordon Levitt and that's about all I can say that's positive about this movie. I think before any writer tackles time travel and expects me to swallow it, they need to think really really long on it, or I'm most likely going to be frustrated, confused, and just simply prone to not liking it.
IF willis is holding a s&w 500 magnum, he's man enough to fire it, once in a while, NOT repeatedly, despite what hollyweird thinks...
ReplyDeletethe damn thing could break a wuss' arm... bloody thing's a .50 caliber
Yeah, I like the Back to the Future versions better, but this still looks worth checking out. I don't believe time travel is possible, but it's fun in stories.
ReplyDeleteMajor spoiler alert!!
ReplyDeleteI thought it was one of the best movies I've seen in years. Very smart writing, like Memento. It was the thinking man's science fiction. It did require some concentration, but I had no problem following the plot.
Sorry, didn't like the newer version of the Time Machine, even though I really dig Pearce.
Terminator - now that was a cool time travel series.
Remember in the diner, Willis said he could see flashes of what Levitt was about to do, but it wasn't from memory? Makes sense that it worked both ways, and at the end, Levitt caught a flash of what Willis was about to do, which in turn would create rather than destroy the Rainmaker. (Sorry, just remembered that - too early in the morning.)
ReplyDeleteOh, man HongkongGifts ^^ if you just knew how often I already visit my inner taste for gifting....and bonanzas... (o_O)
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you didn't care for Looper much. I still want to see it though, I just won't spend the money to see in on the big screen.
I don't like watching torture scenes in movies. I'll pass on this one, but I think I will see The Time Machine.
ReplyDeleteI think too much and too long all the time. I go to the movies to un-think. So maybe this flick is not for me. Although if Willis is buff, I could let my mind wander on him.
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ReplyDeleteI've not seen Looper yet so I didn't read a word after your first sentence. Thanks for the alert.
ReplyDeleteStill, I support you.
Hmmm yes I'm already well aware of your feelings about time travel. I don't really like it but it's part of the sci-fi writer's toolkit. Anyway, I'll probably watch this at some point even if you did spoil the ending. Spoiler!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a time travel person myself. Not outside of classic sci-fi anyway. And Quantum Leap. It's too gimicky and rarely thought out. Timescape, though, was great, but there is no traveling involved.
ReplyDeleteYeah, all that timey whimey stuff can be a real mess. I think you have the same problem I do with certain movies and books--over thinking. We know just enough about theoretical time travel to dwell on the paradoxes. Sometimes I have to just tell myself to relax and enjoy what was there and let it go. So hard!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the warning. ;)
Did you see Adam's post on time travel? It was pretty funny.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.adamheine.com/2012/09/the-reality-of-time-travel.html
I wouldn't attempt writing a time travel story, but I think time travel is more realistic when it goes into the future, not the past. This is actually not a far off thing either. They've already proved it's possible.
ReplyDeleteI skimmed over most of this because of the spoilers. I really want to see this film. I've heard it was a pretty good ride, but to enjoy something like this you likely have to be able to suspend disbelief long enough to buy the premise. If that didn't work for you, then, yeah, I can see why you'd be disappointed.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to see this movie...but now, maybe not..
ReplyDeleteTime travel stories can be very tricky if not done right and will all the loopholes (as in Looper?) closed tight. I guess this movie left a few open. Too bad -- now I'll just wait for the DVD.
ReplyDeleteI think I'll pass.
ReplyDeleteToo bad there were such obvious problems with the story. Time travel is tricky, but you'd think they'd try avoiding the less coherent tropes.
ReplyDeleteI hate time travel stories. My brain hurts from thinking about them afterwards, especially if they're flawed, and most are. If I can see the flaws, why can't the writers? Thanks, Michael.
ReplyDeleteHey Michael! Hope things are going well! And I totally agree... I'm a Back to the Future kinda girl. Those shows ROCK!
ReplyDeleteif its not on red box, we haven't seen it....
ReplyDeleteback to the future with Michael j Fox is a favorite here..fun light and entertaining.
shoot; I'd watch it for Bruce Willis, but your review here is more of a Butterfly Effect II type theme. I'm wary of those. But; Bruce Willis . .
ReplyDeleteI saw Time Machine last weekend. It had some interesting concepts. I wasn't impressed, but I didn't turn it off either. I think it is a movie I have to watch more than once - and I can't be distracted by blogging or other writing projects.
Weird: I'm finishing this comment and I looked to the side and there is the "friends don't let friends drink friends" blog post ad. And it made me smile.
How can I hate and love a show at the same time?
.......dhole
I did go see this movie this weekend, so after I came back and read this post. Sometimes things just have different impressions on us I suppose. I thought it was stunning. Loved every second of it. I was thinking...
ReplyDelete...That killing himself was a pretty obvious solution, but I didn't think he would have the moxie to go through with it. I thought it hit the right emotional chord and it worked exactly like they intended on me. I generally find time travel movies to be very illogical, but I thought this one was more well planned than most, but like I said, we each come away with our own interpretations.
The title of your post made me laugh. It's one of the best post titles. Ever.
ReplyDeleteI have a problem with many time travel books. I always feel like there are places that don't make sense. I actually read a middle grade one where the kids kept saying they had to keep it a secret, but kept blabbing stuff. I don't understand how the series became popular.
Sounds like the movies have issues too.
Looper didn't really stand out to me in the previews anyways. I'll probably skip this one or wait for it to come to Netflix.
ReplyDeleteAnything with Michael J Fox is better. I think classics are so memorable it is hard to enjoy anything as much. Let's face it, MJF is an amazing and charismatic actor.
ReplyDelete