According to the movie Looper, we should be able to time travel in about 60 years. The Sept. 28 release’s trailer may look like a mess of past, present and future, but when looped (pun intended) together, it makes for a surprisingly easy-to-understand action flick.

The movie takes us to Kansas in a time thirty years before time travel exists: 2042. Joe (a rather surprising role for sweetheart Joseph Gordon-Levitt) makes his living as a “looper;” he waits for people from the future to appear out of thin air and then kills them with a blunderbuss. The future mob of 2072 uses time travel to dispose of the people it wants dead and employs loopers from the past to carry out the job.

Joe and his fellow loopers mindlessly blast each blindfolded person who appears at the specific times and coordinates given. Strapped to each victim are blocks of silver, which the looper accepts as payment.

A looper knows he has killed his future self off when, instead of silver, the blindfolded victim carries blocks of gold. This is called “closing the loop” and the looper can enjoy thirty years of retirement, knowing when and how death occurs.

The trouble begins when, oddly, nearly every looper but Joe is enjoying a celebratory “closing the loop” party. Finally, it’s Joe’s turn, but his older self (Bruce Willis) manages to escape.

The looper world erupts into a tizzy, trying to locate both young Joe and old Joe. The two Joes meet up and – brace yourself – the real story begins.

When I think about Joseph Gordon-Levitt, I still see him as a young boy in Angels In The Outfield and dancing to Hall & Oates in (500) Days of Summer, but he leaves the cutesy bits of him behind for this role. And it works, it really does. However, it is hard to picture Willis as Gordon-Levitt, just thirty years older. You’ll have to use your noggin a bit on that one to remind yourself that they’re supposed to be the same person.

If you like action mixed with sci-fi, Looper is a movie that will make you say “hell yeah!” The cast is full of extremely likeable characters and you’ll probably forget whose side you’re on.  If you’re like me, you’ll go from being in awe to actually saying “awww.” Just go see it and you’ll understand what I mean. (4.5 stars/5)

(Originally published in The Buzzworthy on October 16, 2012.)