Review of Twelve Monkeys (1995) by Aaronderuiter — 01 Jan 2015

This movie is insanely good, and is easily worthy of a crown fit for kings. Before I will try to explain just why this movie is so horribly good I just want to say that I don't often enjoy a movie as much as this one. Movies like Star Wars, The Matrix and Back to the Future pale and shudder in comparison to this heavily underrated star among filmmaking. Those movies were good, certainly, but not executed as flawlessly as this one. For this title alone Terry Gilliam should be raised above and beyond other directors. The only movies I have enjoyed as much as this one have to be Scarface and Pulp Fiction. I honestly don't know why everyone agrees that those movies are masterworks, but doesn't put 12 Monkeys besides them on a pedestal. This movie is more than worth it.

Why is this movie so damn good? Well first of all it is slow. I like slow movies. When bits go flying from one end of the screen to another you must make sure to have build up a lot of tension before doing so, or the bits flying won't have any impact whatsoever. This movie builds up to a lot. The entire movie is basically build-up, and that's the way I like it. The ending felt appropriately heavy and important.

The movie is also very smart. The plot is interesting, the little bits and pieces of social commentary scattered around are always welcome, and the overall premise requires attention. Perhaps this is why it isn't on any must-watch list, but for me the amount of intelligence this film needs was perfect. For the entire duration of the movie I was trying to figure out what everything meant and how the story was going to end. It had me completely gripped in thought about this movie, I did not once stop to wonder about anything else. That is sheer brilliance in my book.

I also loved the way the story changed completely for maybe 4-5 times. It makes sure things stay interesting. The way this movie works with bringing things you have seen before back, but with some more general info, is the best. It just is. It doesn't dumb down to explain things to you either, it expects you to be smart enough to recognize it yourself, and link it back to the story yourself too. The story requires you to pay attention and think about it, an art that is lost in popular movie-making. It is gripping, more so than any film I have ever seen.

And the general setting of this movie (usually in places with insane people) just works for me. It's a personal preference, but I love this movie for the same reason I love the original Terminator: the setting, both of the future and the present, is completely perfect. And Brad Pitt isn't usually my favourite actor, but he was perfect here. And so was Bruce Willis. Even the casting was top notch.

Straight out 10 out of 10, could not find a single damn flaw. No-one can ever do this kind of movie better than this.