Looper - The Really Bad Rian Johnson Time Travel Movie
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- Опубликовано: 10 сен 2024
- #rianjohnson #looper #starwars #thelastjedi
Despite his praises, many have been critical of Rian Johnson's most prominent films, being his Knives Out detective stories and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, with many confused about how such a stylish director could create scripts that focus more on themes and forcing a story over well-rounded characters and substance
However, had anyone bothered to remember his first big blockbuster film, Looper, then they would see that Rian is simply witing the way he has always written - Terribly. Join me today as we take a look at how Rian Johnson time travel blockbuster fails to tell a cohesive story
/ @therealloomar
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Twitter - Loomar/@TheRealLoomar
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Media
Breaking Bad (2008 - 2013)
Looper (2012)
Star Wars Episode 8: The Last Jedi
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
Music
Angel Salazar - AI
Chameleon Treat - Afternoon Dissection
Man With Roses - Mystery Magic
Shinto - Too Much
TIN - Sonar 2
![INTI HLIM TURIN BERMUDA AN PAN, ENG THIL NGE AN CHUNGAH THLENG? [MOVIE RECAP MIZO]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/9dBCe51BN80/mqdefault.jpg)
I been thinking that Old Joe could simply have saved his wife (if we go with the vague logic of this story) by simply waiting for young Joe to wake up after knocking out him out and then tell him:
“Hey, Kiddo, in the future you will be married. Be sure that your wife is not in your house at this specific date that i’ve written down for you on this paper”
And then hand Young Joe the gun and let him finish the job.
Yup sweet old Rian. The Last Jedi wasn't the first big mess he made. Also, what the fuck do people mean when they say The Last Jedi is a good movie but isn't a good Star Wars movie?
I love how you blame and bash Rian Johnson for Star Wars despite JJ Abrams directing your favorite Star Wars movie that retcon Return of the Jedi.
@@Infamous1892 Lol where did you conclude I like The Rise of Skywalker? Also nothing in my comment talks about me saying Rian ruined Star wars
The Force Awakens wasn't exactly the best start, but it at least remembered to set up plot points for the next movie, and didn't try and insert a bunch of half baked themes that didn't work
I feel like The Last Jedi would've been a lot better if it wasn't the middle of a trilogy
The idea that "The Last Jedi is a good movie but isn't a good Stars Wars movie" means that it's solid for a movie but they expected better given the name it carries. Basically people are admitting that they would not be as harsh if it wasn't called Star Wars.
@@inferior3199 I wasn't talking about Fall of Skywalker. I was talking about your precious Force Awakens. You know the movie every fan claimed saved Star Wars. The movie that said Luke, Han, and Leia are losers who did nothing once Palpatine was defeated. The movie that didn't even have Luke Skywalker in it, the movie that made Han a loser, the Movie that screwed over Leia, you know everyone's favorite Star Wars movie.
When Rian Johnson said that the time travel in this movie was easy to understand. It means one or two things. Rian Johnson is lying or Rian Johnson has terrible memories of the things he's said before.
Well I have a question right away, if killing a person in the past doesn’t alert the authorities, is it not possible to arrange for accidents? Like, why hire to loopers, you could send regular hit men back, watch where they are going and then use that knowledge to set a trap. Or hell, avoid time travel all together, tie ‘em up and set a timed explosive or gunshot. You could be away from them for hours or days before they die.
When Bill and Ted could solve this problem you have issues. Basically all young Joe had to do was promise not to travel back in time. Old Joe wouldn't come back, wouldn't kill Emily blunt, so no rainmaker.
Also Initially liked this movie but the farm house began to unravel everything. 12:30 Fimlmakers make this mistake all the time. Tree stumps are a real pain in the ass. I've removed 50 of them using the no power tools methods for various reasons.
1. That axe is the worst kind to use. Incredibly dangerous. Will hurt yourself at somepoint. The problem being that the grains in the stump go in every possible direction and there are stones in the base of the tree. Your main defense against a wild axe rebound is to flip it limp and let the back of the axe hit you in the leg. Not a good idea with that axe. Even a weak hit with the back of a normal axe can expose bone on your shin. It's happened to me a bunch of times. Don't use long axes for stump tops any more.
2. A farmer job is different than a backyard job. Most of the stump even if its jutting out of the ground that much is below the surface. Think of a tree like a double tipped sword those leaves and branches thats what the roots are but the trees in the sky only resist whatever is closest to them. The roots have to grow through solid ground. Extremely compact super pain in the ass. Misery.
3. A properly honed hachet is a much better implement for taking off the above surface of a stump. the top of the cork if you will. You can do it in a day. Less weight to rebound dangerously. More precision. Less work to resharpen the blade once dulled by too many stones or strikes.
4. Even Inglorious Basterds get's it wrong, why would a famer do all this back breaking horrendous work when he could just set up a few fires and be rid of the top of the cork so that he might save himself for the real work of the roots? Makes no sense.
5. The Blisters on her hands. No. Just stop for a couple days when blisters begin to form and you develop bascially impervious callouses. Or I dunno wear gloves and pace yourself. Stump's not going anywhere.
Didn't know this. Not my biggest gripe with the film, but thank you for the agricultural information
This is most passion I've ever seen towards tree stumps.
I'd love to hear your take on the 12 Monkeys series, as nobody who complains about this kind of stuff on youtube seems to have seen it. Every time I think I've found a problem with the time travel mechanics, the series continues & my queries are answered. It's also _incredibly_ fun with a satisfying ending that they apparently wrote backwards from when they got the green light for 2 more seasons as they were starting to shoot the 2nd. Not a bad idea if you want a good time travel story...
I will try and check it out, thanks for the recommendation
@@therealloomar nice one pal, subbing now
There's a Twelve Monkeys series!?!
@@LastBastian Hekking yes m9, and hardly anyone seems to know it exists, so pardon me as I vent like a maniacally deranged devotee as I try to convert you lel.
It's like if 'Dark' wasn't for pretentious normies - not that it (Dark) isn't pretty great, but I do still need to watch the last season. The amount of times I fell asleep trying to watch the first ~2/3rds of the first season though...
Anyway, 12 Monkeys: I think a lot of people who love the Gilliam film saw that the series was happening and thought "aww, please don't ruin it ffs" - and I'm ashamed to say I was one of those people until the first lockdown when I had nothing better to do.
I'll warn you the budget's a bit ropey and it's tonally a bit trashy, but they thoroughly transcend it with the great characters, their wild arcs and a kaleidoscopically imaginative & intricately baroque plot, with a side-helping of humour to boot.
I'll admit I thought there were more holes than there are when I finished it the first time (there is one in the 1st season that I'm still not really 100% on without a bit of hand-waving, but the rest of it's worth it, regardless), so I watched it again because I enjoyed it so much anyway and it's so much better once you know the context of everything/everyone & how it all transpires...
Coming back around to the 'Dark' comparison, I think both shows could've used a spoonful of each others' overall tone; as in the 'kinda pretentious/lack thereof' dichotomy, but I think a lot of that comes down to the seemingly stark difference in money. I have no doubt if '12' had a comparable budget a hell of a lot more people would be raving about it. And I think, probably generally, if the story telling matches the budget (i.e. technical prowess) then the word pretentious doesn't/shouldn't apply.
TL;DR
Watch the 12 Monkeys series so I can stop feeling like the only person who's seen it (hahaaa...III wish I was joking...)
Even ignoring the problems with the time travel mechanics, just the overall premise makes zero goddamn sense: We're supposed to believe that, in the future, theres too much government surveillance to be able to commit murder, but somehow that surveillance cant spot and stop a massive kidnapping operation complete with fucking time travel. Where does a crime lord get a time machine anyway? If its because time travel is common/easily produced in the future, then why dont the feds turn that supposedly infallible surveillance towards it?
Okay, but maybe somehow the Feds can ONLY track murders and somehow dont know time travel is a thing. If you want to dispose of someone with a time machine, just send them to hiroshima 5 minuets before the US drops the bomb. Or if thats not possible just send them to before life on earth existed and it is impossible for humans to survive. I'm sure there are plenty of other options that are a lot less complicated and prone to problems.
But, ok lets say we go with the 'sending people back to be killed by assassins the past' anyway. Why have them kill themselves? The entire film is about how that could go horribly wrong, so its not hard to imagine that, and there seems to be no reason given for why it needs to be done that way.
Seriously the premise was so dumb and nonsensical that I couldnt even care about the rest of the film.
Might just be me but, if time travel is somthing crime syndicates have then i think it would be heavily abused and wouldnt be used as a glorified disposal unit.
If you asked the average person what they would do with a time machine they are certainly going to change somthing they regretted or would invest in certain companies and become rich.
Yeah, Looper wasn't perfect, I still liked it. Sure, the end makes zero sense, but I can put in in my blu-ray and clean my place. It's a great movie for background noise
Why cant i change the video quality on this video?
I'm actually not sure pal. This is the first time it's happened on one of my videos
I find video essays like this very useful for my own writing and analysing media more critically but I also find some criticisms so pedantic. Like complaining that mutation takes millions of years is just so pedantic to me. Let's not give everyone on the back but at the same time, whatever happened to suspending our disbelief? That said, good video. I am subscribing.
Telekinesis plays a pretty major part of the movie
The rules, history and worldbuilding of the movie also implies that everything operates the same as in our world
As such, humanity randomly getting superpowers with no explanation, superpowers that are needed in order for the plot to work, seems very contrived and is a problem for me
Glad you enjoyed the video, even if you don't agree with everything. Hope you well in your work
You know what, fair! Exactly why I enjoy these types of videos... to show me the gaps in my thinking. I stand well corrected.
To put it in the best light, I think Rian is good at making individual scenes and concepts that look cool (e.g. the Holdo maneuver, old whatshisface degenerating as the younger Looper is tortured, etc.). But attempting to connect these individual scenes becomes nonsensical in the context of the story he's constricted by.
I think that's a really accurate summation of Rian's writing style
Basically, he's a sequence artist who can't connect to a larger story And can't write dialogue all that well
In other words, Brian Michael Bendis to an absolute T, although Like I've stressed as well as anyone else comment his early work like Powers, JINX, and Ultimate Spider-Man show he KNOWS how to write dialogue and scenes he CAN actually do really good stories when he WANTS to, but CHOOSES to make it "quirky and realistic" Even though there's absolutely no variation in personality between the characters he writes, they all sound the same
Repeat themselves over and over, tries too hard to be, all casual and dumb and snarky or dismissive like Joss Wheadon writes Buffy and her gang, cutting people off, looking smug or clueless while making emphatic stuck up know-it-all declarations and keeping that same face for several panels not changing at all, people having freakouts and repeating themselves over and over randomly To represent them being crazy, And short ass fight sequences, even the comics are built off of spectacle and lengthy action sequences, The story and dialogue ultimately comes second in the case of a superhero comic
Rian seems to come from that same school of pretentious half baked "subversive" storytelling
Honestly its crazy how bad Looper is. Why include time travel if it doesn’t make any sense. If you’re this lazy why not a simpler history??
I suppose you could think of this as some insane convoluted scheme for the rainmaker to save his mother in the past and create a...better future? Like the rainmaker planned this all out with total disregard to time travel or logic because he didn't care about fucking up the timeline cause he wanted himself as a child to be happy.
I played the video but I mostly listened to it because that’s how pointless it is to even see the movie again. No wonder it was so forgettable and no one rly talked about it further than the immediate post-viewing.
one of the reasons i hate time travel, never makes sense, and rian johnson nevar was a very good in his job lol kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
I would send the person I want dead back to the dinosaurus age if the range of the time machine allows it. Though it might affect history if scientists find his bones, but it's very unlikely because he almost certainly would be eaten and devoured.
I have seen "Looper". It was shit. I bet a kidney ANY SW fan that knows his stuff would have written a better film. Simply, it's not a job for him. He might be the best fruit vendor of the planet, I don't care, just writing scripts it's not his thing.
He also straight up copied the shot from Drive of Ryan Gosling covered in blood. The framing, lighting, fps, actors movement almost all the same
Agreed
Being charitable and ignoring the actual cause-and-effect rules/assuming they all work, I still don't comprehend the real-time changes happening, like a guy being amputated in the past, so his future self *suddenly* is missing legs. It's the same problem as Marty in BttF partially disappearing when the future is on a course for him not being born.. it should just be binary. Either a future where you are or aren't being born is happening, and you do or don't exist, no halfsies. So back to Looper... how is he losing parts of himself in order, as if these two scenes are happening at the same time? They aren't. They can't be.
You're full of BS on this one. Rian Johnson has been the punching bag for Star Wars fans despite him not writing or directing the force Awakens. You can do that, but why are you trying to tear down the mans one good movie? You're just nitpicking this movie to discredit Rian Johnson's writing instead of looking at it objectively. Not every movie will be perfect, every movie has flaws, but to pretend this movies writing and story is bad just because you personally dont like Rian Johnson is weak. Looper is a good movie. Stop hating the Last Jedi and grow up already. The man isn't incompetent.
You're acting like JJ Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy haven't also gotten shit for this trilogy. Shit they rightfully deserve
"Why are you tearing down the mans one good movie" - If I've managed to tear it down this much it can't be that good then can it?
"You just nitpicked this movie" - I don't think you know what a nitpick is. A nitpick would be if someone had a ketchup stain on their shirt in one shot and then didn't in the next. A nitpick would be if someone is holding a baby and it's very clealry a plastic doll being used istead of a child actor. Flaws that fundamentally break a story and render it incoherent on any possible level aren't nitpicks
"instead of looking at it as escapism" - what if my version of escapism is a well structured movie with a story that makes sense?
"but to pretend this movies writing and story is bad just because you personally don't like Rian Johnson is weak" - If only I made a 24 minute video explaining exactly why the story is bad and doesn't make sense, that would have helped (I'm begging you people to actually watch these videos before you make comments)
"Looper is a good movie" - Watch my video
"Stop hating the Last Jedi and grow up already" - Once it starts being a good movie then it'll stop getting hate. You say grow up, but I think actually using your brain to watch a movie instead of just praising it for the pretty pictures and the emotions is the grown up thing to do
"The man isn't incompetent" - Depends. When it comes to directing? He needs to work on his action scenes, but besides that he's good. But writing? Clearly he is
@@therealloomarsee you just said you're upset about The Last Jedi still. Dude I was pissed about the Force Awakens and how it retconed the original trilogy by saying Luke, Han, and Leia did nothing good once the Empire was defeated, but now we gotta move on. Attacking Rian Johnson's one good idea doesn't discredit his ability as a writer. If this was an objectively bad movie I'd have no problem, but this isn't Tenet. This isn't Rogue One, this isn't The Eternals. Give the man credit on his one good movie. You wanna get pissed about something? Get pissed at Disney, they're giving us crap like Ahsoka and Andor. While Kathleen Kennedy makes statements like,"We're not Marvel. We don't have years and years of source material. Just decated writers who are passion fans." Legends bro. And for the record, I blame JJ Abrams more than Rian Johnson because he wrote Ep 7. You know the one that everyone loves despite saying Luke is a runaway, Han is a deadbeat dad, and Leia isn't a leader in the Republic. You know that movie. But I'm over it cause Star Wars doesn't want our money.
Nitpicking does not mean pointing out things in a movie you like. Nitpicking would be pointing out mistakes that overall do not affect the story (like, the wrinkles in a man's jeans changing between shots). That's not what this video is doing. It's pointing out ways the mechanics of the most important feature of the story contradict each other and break the investment of anyone paying close enough attention.. because if the rules can just bend for whatever the writer wants the plot to be, the rules didn't need to be bothered with in the first place.
You're not defending the movie simply by saying "It's not one of those objectively-bad movies" with no qualifiers. And the movies you do label as "objectively-bad", you also didn't provide any arguments against. You just proclaimed this, and expected your unsubstantiated opinion is the correct one. "You've gotta move on" and "stop taking it so seriously" are the words of a person with no counterpoints, no rebuttals... just lame attempts to shame the person who's putting in more work than you.
@@kylefrank638 If this was a bad movie I'd shut up, but this is a hit piece written in bad faith. Looper came out in 2012 and was praised until The Last Jedi now it's terrible. Is it because the movie is Objectively bad or are you last jedi haters just being petty? I don't like Tenet at all, but I'm not gonna go back and discredit all of Christopher Nolan's movies because I don't like one. That's a childish was to critique.
I’m not a fan of looper the best parts of it is the Bruce Willis Action schlock I disagree with your assessment of the action not to say like oh it’s actually good but more is kinda cheesy and fun like a lot of 80s action films are I’m sure Rian wouldn’t agree with my thoughts that this is basically a JCVD movie from the 80s only with a late stage career Bruise Willis
I heard the characters of looper were good but that the time travel stuff is really bad
They're good concept characters but everything around them is so flawed it kinda ruins it for me
i understand and to a large extent agree with a lot of the criticism in the video but imo plot contrivances are a very bad criticism, a contrivance being something that seems very unlikely, for example human having telekinesis, it’s also unlikely that we’d have time travel but we do, i understand that the whole “but there’s dragons in the story so why complain that it’s not realistic” is a bad argument that misunderstands the complaint but in this scenario i think it fits, of course all opinions are in some way biased and subjective which is why no matter how much i disagree anyone can think whatever they want, but for me, the idea that humans go through rapid evolution and develop telekinesis in a few years doesn’t really subtract anything from the movie, it’s unlikely but unlikely shit happens all the time, and it’s a story so you must suspend your disbelief that all of it is fake, it’s unlikely for someone to win the lots but that would make a better story then guy doesn’t win the lottery and nothing happens.
I'm not saying that humans having telekinesis is bad as an inherent concept, I would be fine with it being in the film, but it's the fact that it just happens. There's nothing to explain it, not even a single line of dialogue about a medical company that did something wrong or a virus that mutated in humans. It just is a thing. I feels stuck onto the script just to explain the rainmaker
@@therealloomar i get that, a little line or world building would have gone a decent way, but it doesn’t bring the movie down by a whole point for me
It's definitely not the worst part of the movie for me. Like I said, there's not really anything that contradicts its existence, I just want to know more about it because at the moment it's just kinda stuck on so it can be used in the climax
Rian isn’t NEARLY as smart as he thinks he is.
Rian Johnson and his super complicated and yet always very flat and crude scripts. Knives out, both films, were equally as boring and bad as the last Jedi.
looper is enjoyable bad movie.
Dude he also wrote Knives Out. The man can clearly write he just needs the right project.
I don't think knives out is a good movie though... :(
I like Knives Out too, but like...one good project a good director does not make. I like the Postal Movie, but Uwe Boll is still a shit director.
@@jeremyusreevu237I mean, I'm tempted to watch House of the Dead, but Alone In The Dark is a fucking garbage ass movie, as is Bloodrayne, so I'm not holding my breath but I still should give it a go
,...yet he still gave us a more entertaining Star Wars movie than anything George gave us after 1980.
Plus,...what time travel movie ever really makes sense? 😅
He gave us the most talked about Star Wars since the 80s. Considering since it came out the public perception has gone downhill, it obviously hasn't done the franchise any favours
"What time travel movie does make sense?"
- Back to the Future Trilogy
- Terminator franchise
- Primer
- X-Men: Days of Future Past
- The Origional Planet of the Apes film
- I remember the Star Trek reboot making sense (will need to double check)
@@therealloomar Back to the Future, Terminator, and X-Men create paradoxes that are ignored, and Planet of the Apes created an alternative universe that isn't explained, or even mentioned.
The Time Machine remake is based on a paradox, but then ignores one it creates at the end.
Frequency Asked Questions About Time Travel (as much as I love that movie) also creates a paradox at the end.
Star Trek created an alternative universe to work around the paradox.
The only time travel movie I know of that actually addresses the consequences of creating a paradox, is Millennium.
,...and I'd still rather watch TLJ than anything George made after 1980. Regardless of "public perception", lol.
@@bat1579 Sure, since Empire and Star Wars were "great", TFA was "really good" and Solo was "awesome", that does leave Rogue One as just "decent". 😁
Will need to rewatch Back to the future. Feel like the 3rd one might have some weak points
Not really sure what plot holes X-Men: Days of Future Past or the terminator franchise has. And an alternative timeline is still a valid example of how time travel is done
"and I'd still rather watch TLJ" - Happy for you
@@therealloomar If the terminator kills Sarah before her son is born, they will win the war and thus have no reason to go back in time to kill her kid, which means they'll lose the war and need to go back, and so on, and so on, and so on goes the paradox.
There's also the Hot Tub Time Machine movies, in which they change their pasts, but only they remember how it went, and of course they have new pasts that everyone ekse remembers, but they don't. Plus the standard changing the past removing the motivation to go back paradox.
Face it, most time travel movies make no sense. Some have decided to use the "multiverse" crap to get out of it, but that's really not much better.
,..and I'm a guy who loves time travel movies. 🥴😆