 "Beware the Army of the 12 Monkeys" | 2008-08-26 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1T3O2LILVK0C4 |
From his days with Monty Python to his visionary epic Brazil, Terry Gilliam has never been an ordinary filmmaker. His unique sense of style and his trademark absurdist humor can be found in all of his films. In 1995, he cemented his reputation as one of the most unconventional directors in America with his brilliant science fiction film, 12 Monkeys. 12 Monkeys is an apocalyptic, romantic, time travel adventure inspired by the French film, La Jetée, which was written by Chris Marker. However, Gilliam's film is entirely his own, a stunning masterpiece of contemporary cinema, and one of the most cleverly bizarre films ever made. The screenplay was written by David and Janet Peoples, who inject the story with an intimate humanistic quality, juxtaposing romance with an eerie atmosphere of impending disaster.
In the year 2035, James Cole (Bruce Willis) is a prisoner in a subterranean stronghold where the last survivors of a cataclysmic virus are held up. Their world is monitored by a panel of scientists who use the prisoners for mysterious experiments. Cole is selected to go up onto the Earth's desolate surface and collect life forms for the scientists to study. Upon his return to the underground prison, Cole is told that he's a candidate for an experiment, which if it were successful he would be given a full pardon. He is sent back in time to discover the source of the virus, but he arrives in the wrong year. After getting into a fight with police officers, Cole is sent to a rundown insane asylum where he befriends a psychiatrist named Kathryn Railly (Madeleine Stowe). He also meets a host of mentally dysfunctional patients, including a paranoid schizophrenic named Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt) who spends most of his time watching cartoons, harassing other patients, and ranting about government conspiracies. Jeffrey helps Cole in an escape attempt, which ends with Cole being caught by the mental hospital's guards and being put into an isolation room, heavily restrained. He mysteriously disappears from the hospital and arrives back in the future. There, the scientists tell him that despite his failure he has been exceptionally useful. They ask him if he would be willing to go back and further investigate the 12 Monkeys... and Jeffrey Goines who may be involved with their formation. However Cole is sent, not only to the wrong time but the wrong place. He lands in Southern France, in the middle of WWI. He's shot in the leg before he vanishes into time.
Meanwhile, Kathryn Railly has been giving lectures on abnormal psychology and the theoretical "Cassandra complex", which states that some people suffer a mental disorder that makes them believe that they are clairvoyant, and knowledgeable of future catastrophes. After one of her lectures, she's ambushed by a strange man who wants her to drive him to Philadelphia. It's Cole and he's traced the origin of the virus to Jeffrey Goines and his billionaire virologist father. Kathryn convinces Cole that he's delusional, but then Cole's story is proven to be true when she discovers that the bullet she removed from his leg dates back to the first quarter of the 20th century. Now she must uncover the truth and help Cole to stop the spread of the virus, but nothing is what it appears to be.
The entire cast is superb. Bruce Willis delivers one of his most nuanced performances as Cole, creating a strong yet vulnerable man who must overcome his own fears of madness in order to save humanity. Madeleine Stowe gives a fascinating performance of a sane woman, who must call into question all of her long held beliefs, and face the insanity of the world around her. But the most memorable character is Jeffrey Goines, who is brought to by Brad Pitt in one of his most remarkable performances ever. He succeeds in making Goines sympathetic, funny, and completely manic. Not only does show off his underutilized versatility as an actor, Brad Pitt also gives us, the audience, access to the off kilter world in which the entire film unfolds. As for Gilliam's direction, 12 Monkeys proves that he's capable of making films that are not only humorous, but stark and profound as well. Ironically, the film's greatest flaw is also its greatest strength. As an audience, we are never explicitly told how the story ends. Sure, there are implications within the film, but there are so many different interpretations that one single idea feels constricting and limiting. Terry Gilliam's brilliance is that he doesn't dictate his story to the viewers; rather he allows them to discover its subtleties and secrets on their own, and then draw their own conclusions. It makes the film even more interesting to watch with a group of friends and everyone's perception of the ending is contrary. It's this idea of open interpretation that makes 12 Monkeys so timeless.
Also recommended:
Monty Python's Flying Circus: Terry Gilliam's Personal Best
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Jabberwocky
Time Bandits
Brazil
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
The Fisher King
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas |
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 "Worth watching for Brad's performance alone - and Bruce's naked butt" | 2008-08-24 |
| - Reviewed By michelle17 |
I initially didn't want to watch this film, I'd heard things from other people, who'd found it quite difficult to follow, and yes, that did put me off. But after some persuasion (and the fact I always make my Dad watch my movies, and I rarely watch his), I decided to give it a go.
I did find that I really got into watching Twelve Monkeys, including working out stuff that my Dad hadn't worked out when he first saw it. (The first shot of the young boys eyes was so obviously Cole's character younger - but I worked it out cos it's a hideous cliché, that's always used.) I also noticed that the passage from The Book Of The Revelation is quoted twice, referring to seven golden vials filled with God's wrath. Kathryn says it in her lecture, and then the homeless guy also repeats it.
The story starts off in the future - the viewer is never given a set year, although it's mentioned that 1% of the population survived by the year 2035. So possibly, the viewers are left to make up their own minds that it could possibly be sometime after this. An unknown, lethal virus has wiped out five billion people in 1996. The survivors now live underground, and a convict called James Cole (Bruce Willis) reluctantly volunteers to be sent back tin time to 1996 to gather information about the source of the epidemic so scientists can study it. Mistakenly, Cole is sent back to 1990, where he is promptly locked up in a mental institution, and he meets Dr. Kathryn Railly (Madeleine Stowe) and Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt), who is also in the mental institution. He needs to find a group of people, calling themselves The Twelve Monkeys, who could possibly be releasing the virus in different cities. He also recurring dreams, which feature intermittantly throughout the movie, showing the viewer a bit more each time. What's really happening?
I found it incredibly difficult to watch Brad Pitt in this movie. His acting is incredible, but I just couldn't handle watching him. Apparently, to get him to act the way he did, he inititally sent him to a speech coach, and then took away his cigarettes. Very strange. And what was with the eyes? I didn't really notice them (I was focusing on something else), until it was pointed out, and then they gave me shivers up my spine. Yes, his acting is brilliant, the way he managed to do, but I really struggled with watching him, and a couple of times, had to look away from the screen.
The 'romance' between James & Kathryn didn't ring true for me. It happens all of a sudden - considering she hated him to begin with - and just seems totally unbelievable.
The different things that are explored in the movie, really got my brain buzzing, and I found it difficult to switch off after watching it - but I was still thinking about Brad's character too. Time travel is heavily the focus of the movie, and it's paradoxes - James kept seeing things in the future and the past, and I couldn't work out whether he was projecting these images or what. It also touches upon the subject of mental illness, reality, animal rights, and the technological advances which could bring about the end of the world.
There's always different things to watch out for during the movie, and I never found myself bored at any point, despite the running time of two hours. I did end up working out the ending, but thankfully not too soon. Cos that just would have been disappointing!
I really did enjoy watching this film, although needed something a bit light hearted to watch after it. The standout thing for me was Brad Pitt. I definitely came away from the film, thinking about his performance. And for the girls, we get to see Bruce Willis naked! From behind! A highlight of the movie. |
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| "Great strange movie" | 2008-08-22 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2KRKP6X3GMYUV |
| Sci-fi thriller. Bruce Willis does a great job. The end will blow you away. |
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 "Loved it at first......now, meh!!!" | 2008-06-26 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2II09GQGWOMTQ |
I loved this movie when it first came out; I watched it again a few months ago.
I love the whole end of the world spin, but the animal rights garbage I can do without.
Brad Pitt is brilliant in this movie, too bad he's gotten so boring in recent years.
I dunno, it's just not a movie that really keeps my interest anymore.
The story is ok, the ending is great.
I would have given 12 Monkeys five stars when it first came out, I'm giving it three now.
There are better movies on this subject nowadays, I Am Legend being a five star example.
I recommend a rental. |
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| "Good movie in Hi Def" | 2008-05-31 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2OSU95P52AXZR |
| I first saw this movie in the 90's when it came out, but had forgotten just how really good it is. Bruce Willis shows that, when he gets away from the "Die Hard" movies, he's a very good actor. And Madeline Stowe and Brad Pitt also put in fine performances. The plot twists and turns to a surprise ending. Highly recommended, even for those who don't normally like sci-fi. |
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| "One of my favorites" | 2008-05-23 |
| - Reviewed By tprice24 |
| This is a great movie. It is one of my favorite movies of all time. If you like "thinking" movies this is for you. It's a cerebral movie that requires you to follow every second to keep up. Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt are Fantastic!!!!! |
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| "interesting movie with a twist" | 2008-05-04 |
| - Reviewed By User: A16TRJKOOE2FK5 |
| This movie has an interesting plot. I love the acting by Brad Pitt and Bruce Willis. It really makes you think about the whole time travel aspect of messing things up. |
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| "Quite simply nothing short of Sci-Fi perfection..." | 2008-04-24 |
| - Reviewed By User: ANCOMAI0I7LVG |
As many have already noted, `12 Monkeys' is one of the best (if not the best) time travel movies ever filmed. What makes `12 Monkeys' so extraordinary is its marvelously crafted script (inspired by Chris Marker's short film `La Jetee') coupled with some stellar performances wrapped up in director Terry Gilliam's glossy packaging. In short, `12 Monkeys' is a complete package. There is nothing lacking in this film. The intensity is high, the personal connection is strong, the emotional resonance is there and the overall engrossing subject matter is at an all time high. `12 Monkeys' is a film that grabs you and sucks you into its whirlwind of science fiction intrigue.
The film opens in the year 2035. The world as we know it is gone, substituted by a dark and barren wasteland; a world crippled by a devastating virus that wiped out most of the human population and forced the survivors to retreat to the desolate underground. The government comes to convict James Cole with a proposition he can't refuse; a chance to have his criminal record expunged if he `volunteers' to travel back in time and obtain a sample of this virus the government can then work with to develop a cure. This trip sends Cole on a strange journey not only physically but mentally as well, causing Cole to challenge his thoughts and views on what is truly real.
`12 Monkeys' brilliantly crafts a physiological thriller that stays with the viewer and challenges the way they think as well. It's one of those films that is mentally exhausting, but in a truly rewarding way. It's a film that leaves the audience feeling as if they just witnessed something meaningful and worthwhile; a film that ultimately becomes so much more than just a film.
Like I mentioned, `12 Monkeys' sports some brilliant performances by the entire cast; most notably though the two male leads. Brad Pitt (who had a phenomenal year in '95) justifiably received an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Jeffrey Goines; the mental patient who befriends Cole and just may have something to do with the unleashing of that diabolical virus. Bruce Willis though is also flawless here and deserved an Oscar nomination as well in my humble opinion. While Willis is undoubtedly comfortable when jumping out of the way of explosions and shooting wildly at terrorists, in `12 Monkeys' (as well as other films like `The Sixth Sense') Bruce proves that he has the acting chops to tackle the dramatic with the save fervor and comfort in which he tackles the high-octane action film. His composure and complete understanding of his characters emotional makeup is outstanding here. He dominates in the supreme definition of the word. Also notable is Madeleine Stowe's performance as Kathryn Railly, the psychiatrist who Cole encounters during his travels.
`12 Monkeys' is pure brilliance in my eyes, a film that defies odds and breaks boundaries in order to deliver something fresh and enthralling from start to finish. This is a film unlike any other; one that mixes ample helpings of mystery and science, drama and fear creating a masterful concoction that will open your eyes and your mind in ways you never imagined. This is a tragically underrated film that may very well be one of the best films ever made. In the very least it is a science fiction staple that no fan of the genre should go without embracing. |
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| "But who knows where or when" | 2008-04-07 |
| - Reviewed By 25354 |
Warning: spoilers.
To anyone who, like me, is prone to muse that great movies are not made in modern times, I would recommend 12 Monkeys. I re-watched this movie last night for the first time in years and it gave me chills it was so beautiful. Not as a science-fiction film so much. For me the movie is probably the most effective, most highly wrought and strangest love story ever told. For me the real core of the movie is the love betwen Kathryn Railly and James Cole. It begins subtly, with Railly as the authority figure psychiatrist saying to the drugged and drooling violent mental patient James Cole "Haven't I seen you someplace?"
In the beginning, Cole's story that he has come from the future is seen as a paranoid schizophrenic delusion. His reality is treated lightly and derided by the complacently-in-control but somehow basically like-able and fetching Railly (Madeline Stowe, in a stunning and classic screen performance)
Gradually, Cole's reality becomes compelling for Railly. She begins losing her grip on her own, smugly-complacent reality picture. At the very same time, Cole begins to reject his own grim reality, because he is falling in love with Railly and now wants to believe that his story of having come from a grim future is a fantasy. This plot structure is so beautifully worked out it is mindblowingly beautiful. A prime example of how story-telling is an evolving art form. The stories of yesteryear were rarely this complex and affecting. You always had to stifle a yawn while watching Romeo and Juliette. But these star-crossed lovers are such an unwittingly beautiful odd-couple it brought continuous chills of art appreciation. As Railly glues an absurd fake mustache to Cole's upper lip - to go with his wig and loud red Hawaiian shirt - she whispers "I remember you this way" and though they share an exquisitely tender moment - in the lobby of an all-night movie theater playing Hitchcock films - they do not kiss. Just thinking about it makes me start to get broken up. It is only in the final scene in the airport that they exchange one, brief, almost embarrassed kiss, rigged out in their wigs and cruisewear, become the absurd and yet extremely dramatic versions of themselves that have haunted Cole's dreams for as long as he can remember. This is great writing. It is an example of how most of the truly great storytelling today is happening in movies, not in books. Books are awash in mediocrity and pretentiousness. The publishing industry festers to its core and has been overrun by people with such degenerate taste that it can be truly said that bad is the new good. However sometimes in movies you get true high art. I cannot conceive of a better, more touching love story than that between Kathryn Railly and James Cole. Thank you Mr. And Mrs. Peoples. Thank You. |
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| "1 Monkey" | 2008-03-23 |
| - Reviewed By jstabile4 |
See La Jetée to appreciate what Gilliam did here. I'd say it's probably his best film. It reminds me of Michel Foucault actually in it's dealing with insanity and history and a bald guy. And the original short film is French and then at one point we find ourselves in the trenches of the first world war with French troops.
It's a scary film, and ultimately provides a slim glimmer of hope out of the immensely melancholic backdrop of our doomed world and the post-apocalyptic one of the near future. Most bizarre and moving is to the story of the lead character Cole, played by Bruce Willis. Aside from PULP FICTION, this is his best performance. His story and that of his doctor played by Madeleine Stowe give the movie some heart. Bard Pit is excellent as a loony animal rights activist and if anyone thinks he doesn't have chops, they should see the pretty boy in this role.
IMHO, Gilliam's best film and one with a truly scary premise, if anything because we could see it easily happening in the real world. Unfortunately we don't have the ability to time travel. |
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