Review of Twelve Monkeys (1995) by Tibor B — 15 Jun 2011

I've always though Terry Gilliam is at his best when constrained, and I think Twelve Monkeys being one of his most successful films proves it. Working to an existing script with his old nemesis Universal pictures producing (albeit with his full creative control) Gilliam can bring his usual visual flourishes, here including a couple of Hitchcock nods, whilst sticking to a relatively focused and straightforward sci-fi time travel disaster movie script inspired by Chris Marker's 'still' film La Jetee.

Willis is very effective bringing both brawn and sensitivity to his role, Pitt overplays but then he is the decoy character and Stowe impresses too, a shame she seems to gave gone off the radar for the last decade.

Yes it's got a downbeat ending, and has a constantly grimy atmosphere but it is coherent and well paced and feels like a complete package, rather than Gilliam's visually extravagant but story defficient original attempts.