The concept of time travel is perhaps the most complicated topic to center a story around, and one 2012 movie starring Bruce Willis' character in Looper claimed that he doesn't want to waste time talking about it.

Looper is a science fiction film written and Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Joe, who is the same person at different stages of his life. When Willis' Joe is sent back in time, from 2074 to 2044, and encounters the younger version of himself, the film gets complicated. However, instead of overexplaining all the rules of time travel in the world, Willis' older, more impatient version of Joe brushes it off. This apparent cop-out is actually an ingenius plot device.

Bruce Willis’ Old Joe Says He Doesn’t Want To Talk About “Time Travel Sh*t” In Looper

The Time Travel Element Of Looper's Story Can Be Confusing

In Looper, younger Joe works for a crime sydicate. However, in the future, tracking systems have made disposing bodies far too difficult, so the sydicate instead sends their targets back in time to be killed. Gordon-Levitt plays an assassin known as a "looper," but to protect the sydicate, any loopers who live until 2074 are also sent back in time to be wiped out, which is why Joe comes face to face with his older self in the film.

How this future society operates, and specifically how time travel works, could get very confusing very quickly. However, instead of constantly trying to explain how the events of the film are possible, Rian Johnson presents the rules of the film, then trusts the audience to move along with the story without asking too many questions. When older Joe comes face to face with his younger self, he also doesn't want to talk about time travel too much. He its that they could spend all day drawing diagrams, but that would waste both of their time and wouldn't lead them anywhere.

Looper Being Self-Aware About How Complicated Time Travel Can Be Made It Even Better

Looper Puts Characters Before Its Science Fiction Elements

Whenever a film deals with the concept of time travel, certain viewers can't wait to nitpick every detail of the story and point out why certain things don't make sense. This has led many writers to try to "beat" the concept of time travel, and write a sci-fi story that makes perfect sense. These attempts rarely work out for the writers, since time travel gets so complicated so quickly. Therefore, Johnson not being worried about explaining the rules of time travel makes Looper a significantly stronger movie than many genre contemporaries.

By the end of Looper, audiences want the best for all of the characters.

Instead of focusing on the time travel element of Looper's story, Johnson instead focuses on the film's characters, and their connections to each other. As a result, Looper is a very emotional movie, and viewers feel connected to both older and younger Joe, as well as ing characters like Blunt's Sara and her son. By the end of Looper, audiences want the best for all of the characters. The emotional aspect of the story allows viewers to stop focusing on the more confusing sci-fi elements, and ultimately makes Looper a very effective movie.