Review of Twelve Monkeys (1995) by Dominic S — 29 Sep 2013

Twelve Monkeys is a very complex story, one with all the mesmerising surrealism you'd expect from a Terry Gilliam film. But what really sells it is the tremendous atmosphere and performances.

Twelve Monkeys has a complex plot surrounded by a huge quantity of shocking surrealism, and there is always a sense of wonder in the air because viewers have to suspend belief to understand what is happening, and sometimes it may be too much for the viewer to comprehend, but Terry Gilliam's directional skill renders it easy to get lost in the complex surrealism of this science fiction piece. It leaves you wanting to see it again, wanting to watch it all over again to be sure you understand it, as well as to sit through the masterful visual style, so it's certainly a film which has tenacity and the ability to mess with the viewer's mind. Terry Gilliam ensures that.

And the script in Two Monkeys is insightful, clever, original and great at telling its zany story, making the viewer's mind get sucked into the story and embalmed in the various complex surrounding dynamics with utter interest and a sense that their minds truly develop alongside the story.

But what really keeps Twelve Monkeys stimulating is the cast. As the story is complex and the script is deep, a great cast is required to match the complex premise and work finely with the storyline.

Luckily enough, Bruce Willis is cast in the lead role and with Terry Gilliam's direction he leads the story in a great manner and gives one of his finest performances in years. Clearly an actor taking Twelve Monkeys as a chance to shine, Bruce Willis conveys a great level of psychotic energy in his performance, and of proves to be one of the finest of his career. It's a deep and meaningful performance, and it makes his character great.

But Brad Pitt completely steals the show. Although known for playing straight up men of action and drama, Twelve Monkeys asks none of this from him. It asks him to get rid of the part of his brain that says "think" and the result is so powerfully realistic. Brad Pitt's performance is absolutely immaculate, because he crosses the border of reality into the implied territory of insanity without going overboard, as he finds the perfect centre point. His character is clearly insane, but not crazy. As complicated as that sounds, you have to witness Brad Pitt's performance to comprehend it, as it is incredible and undoubtably his best performance to date, strongly deserving of his Academy Award nomination. Brad Pitt is an unprecedented amazement in Twelve Monkeys.

Madeleine Stowe also supplements strong character development to her role, as does Christopher Plummer, and so Twelve Monkeys attracts its greatest strength due to its cast.

So although the plot may prove too mesmerising for some, Twelve Monkeys is a fine piece of science fiction work with some stunning performances.