I mean, the first Back to the Future is kind of a perfect script, I think, in terms of handling time travel the best. It depends on your definition. To me, that means it effectively uses it in the story. – Rian Johnson
Teen movies often have an unspoken underlying premise in which high school is seen as less serious than the adult world. But when your head is encased in that microcosm its the most serious time of your life. – Rian Johnson
Unlike some of the time-travel movies I love, like Primer or 12 Monkeys, Looper is not about time travel. Its about this situation that time travel creates and the people dealing with that situation. So narratively, the big challenge was to have time travel get out of the way. – Rian Johnson
Hopefully with each thing that you do youre learning something, youre growing, and youre pushing yourself a little harder in some way or another. So I think youd be in real trouble if each new thing that you create didnt feel like Oh, wow. I feel like Im doing something a little different this time. – Rian Johnson