true gilliamesque journey into "reality"

Rating: Null/10 (2 July 2000)

A lot of people are ecstatic over The Matrix, claiming it breaks new grounds in cinematic history. While it has some great camera work, Gilliam has long taken us into "question reality" worlds... and I feel with 12 Monkeys he has accomplished a feat worthy of acclaim.
Orchestrating a film such as this must have been hectic! I think 12 Monkeys does a great job of transporting the viewer to an alternate reality of gadgetry and armageddon, desire and big brotherness, fear and delusion. Though you see the future of the film from its first scene, you're constantly whipped about across time in a frenzy only Gilliam could sculpt into a "believable" tale of what could be described as a tormented quest for love and freedom.
Kudos for Gilliam! Imagine what he could do with a nearly limitless budget! The DVD includes a great "behind the scenes" documentary which convincingly relates the world that is Gilliam in action. A most telling scene depicts the director in a frustrated moment, crushed that he cannot always display on a screen the depths of his imagination.