Standard noisy, overwrought Gilliam product

Rating: 1/10 (22 May 2009)

I saw this last in 1998 and really disliked it. I thought I'd give it a second chance. I still dislike it, for the exact same reasons.
Gilliam always offers viewers some neat-o production design which seems to be enough for his fans, but he never has a clue about the basics. He starts complicating his story before it's even established, and embroiders and embroiders; hoping he can escape his basic shallowness. ("It has to be important! It's elaborate!") He gets very serious before the audience is on board. Loudness, chaos, eye-popping sets, and cinematography, big acting...? It's all there. But thirty years into his career, those are still no substitute for a decent script, or depth of ideas. The self-important tone here suggests Gilliam believes the thoughtless raves he gets with each movie. In the end his bloated, overcooked stories always reveal his major goal is to throw 2o mawkish, Mannerist moments up on the screen.
12 Monkeys is just empty calories for your eyes. It's a big dumb, showy Hollywood movie of no importance.