Looper (2012) ****

Looper (2012), Rian Johnson's best film (so far), takes elements of Blade Runner (1982) (my review here), The Terminator (1984), and Twelve Monkeys (1995) (my review here) to create its own violent science-fiction action drama. It was one of my Top Films Of 2012 (interesting to see how some of those films have aged and what esteem I hold them in now), and it remains one of the better serious sci-fi pictures of the last ten years (I can't believe this one will already be a decade old later this year). 

The choice to focus on emotional investment in the characters over head-spinning, paradoxical logic worked in the film's favor. In the three times that I've now seen Looper, I've never felt the need to concern myself with mental gymnastics to expose flaws in the narrative. I do have some nitpicks—most noticeably the somewhat uncanny valley created by the filmmaker's attempts at making Joseph Gordon-Levitt look more like Bruce Willis—but overall this is an excellent movie with strong performances and great production design.

You can find my Rian Johnson Feature Films Ranked list here.