Review: "Looper" is confounded time travel western

Review "Looper" R
In the year 2044, time travel had been outlawed, and folks from 2074 come through all the time back into time, where men called Loopers are armed with blunderbus guns waiting to blast them out of existence. One day, one of the loopers fails to make his mark and tries to hide out with a looper played by Gordon Levitt, but both are caught and one escapes, that is Levitt's character, and must go about his business like nothing happened, before the mob boss calls him in to question him for escaping and trying to help his friend. The problem is his next mark is a bald man, played by Bruce Willis, who instantly kicks his butt and leaves. Later on, he awakens and is found out by the boss, who orders him to hand himself over, but he refuses and flees. Thirty years later, the mob leader, called the Rain Maker, catches up with him in Asia and kills his wife, but he goes back into time, as Willis, and cold conks his earlier self. The two meet back in 2044 with Levitt playing the good one and his older self playing the evil, jaded one, although shooting marks is also bad. Then the younger looper goes to hide out on a ranch where there is a lover of his, who has an unrelated ESP rated son, who may be the key to the whole thing. The time travel angle is confousing, so much so Bruce's character explains it as a mess that makes his head hurt, which could also describe a night on the town for some. The story is interesting popcorn fun if it weren't for the violent disregard for human life, from men to women to children, but it doesn't pull any punches with action and there is plenty to see. It's definitely R rated.
Review by Adam Browne