Review of Twelve Monkeys (1995) by Brandon Y — 08 Feb 2012

12 Monkeys is a film that loves to be crazy. Director Terry Gilliam thrives off films that always seem to move like gangbusters and have camera work more twisted than the characters. 12 Monkeys, if anything, strives off strong characters and filmmaking but falls short in plot effectuality. The plot may on the surface seem really complex but it is actually quite simple: it is a non-linear narrative that concludes (SPOILER) how we expect to conclude-relates back to an important flashback in the film (END SPOILER). Bruce Willis is commendable playing a neurotic volunteer of a futuristic society trying to gain information of the decline of humanity which lost 5 billion of its population. Brad Pitt is electrifying as a "one fry short of a happy meal" mental patient with a knack for trouble in the film. I just wish we saw more of him in 12 Monkeys, because Monkeys circulates around Bruce Willis and Madeleine Stowe, who are less interesting and more predictable in their character motivation. Brad Pitt (his character is Jeffrey Goines): we don't get him, we don't understand him, but we love him. If only GIlliam focalized more of the film through him, the film would have became more abstract as it would deal with a more eccentric character. Willis and Stowe are eccentric but not as appealing on the screen, as their relationship starts off intriguingly but develops into the inevitable stockholm syndrome-forced love relationship. The film ends fittingly, but the execution of it is too predictable, due to Gilliam's formulaic narrative. We know what is going to happen to these smart characters, but somehow they are unaware that fate is going to screw them. It isn't ironic, it is confusing and contrived. However, there is a lot to like in 12 Monkeys-the filmmaking uses dutch angles quite well, as if we're walking down the road of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and the premise is enough to keep you rooting for the characters. The climax doesn't do it justice, but the film works on a surreal level-the mood it seeks.

I SAY-RENT IT.