Where to begin?

Rating: 5/10 (8 August 2018)

A fine film 'Twelve Monkeys' conveys a confusing story of rebellion, activism and time travel as well as cause and effect. The content seems bulky and is indeed however it's communicated well through the narrative and story which despite seeming fractured on a surface level is quite simple to follow, littered with surprisingly great performances from what's now recognised as a fantastic cast and brilliantly shot to convey multiple atmospheres there's many a reason why this film is highly regarded however for those who are more aware of the world of film and other releases within and outside of this genre a potential issue arises. The climax is triggered by a viewing of 'Vertigo' (Hitchcock,1958) rather fitting giving the relevance it has in relation to character identity and to some extent conspiracy which can sort of be applied to this film itself yet all seems a bit jarring having now seen both films. It's well documented that 'La Jetée' (Marker, 1962) was the main inspiration for 'Twelve Monkeys' but it feels a little cheap given that it's essentially beat for beat tha same film only the 'remake' (and I use that term very lightly) is slightly padded out by a few subplots which are mostly irrelevant to the core story of the film, nevertheless it's not all bad and the well shot '95 release is worth one watch at least.