Stylistic sci-fi thriller is insanely complex but well-constructed and engaging

Rating: 8/10 (8 August 2008)

"Twelve Monkeys" is an intense sci-fi thriller that while strung together with great skill is particularly mind- numbing. A combination of time travel and both dialogue and camera-work that will have you thinking you're just as insane as some of the characters, this is one of director Terry Gilliam's most complex projects, although for Gilliam, complex is a relative term.
"Monkeys" stars Bruce Willis as Cole, a man from the future sent on a mission to 1996, right before the outbreak of a virus that will kill off all but a percent of the world's population. He's not supposed to change the past, but merely gather things to understand it, which hopefully includes a sample of the virus so an antidote may be found. To explain in any more detail would require way too much explanation, so I will leave it at that. Let's just say he goes back and forth a lot with little to no explanation. To satisfy curiosity with the other stars, however, Madeleine Stowe plays a psychiatrist whose fate slowly intertwines with Cole's and Brad Pitt plays a mentally insane person Cole first meets at an asylum.
The film features Gilliam's signature hand-held camera-work and tilted angles which creates a sense of the insanity and uncertainty of what exactly is true and what imagined. There are so many forces and characters at work in this film and nothing ever grounds it enough to make any kind of sense. You get where it's going and where it ends up, but nothing is clearly spelled out. Nothing. Gilliam would prefer to leave you confused and many people will be.
As confusing as it may be at times, that's not to take away from this film's many strengths. Willis and Pitt are excellent in these roles. While Pitt first appeared a bit unnatural as an insane person with tics and such, he really transforms himself as the film goes on. Willis, as he is best at, shows a tremendous amount of sensitivity and fragility despite being a hard- nosed character. The script does lend him a hand with this in that he's not a typical action protagonist, he's more a really troubled man with a tough guy demeanor. Don't fool yourself into thinking this is action sci-fi. This is more ala "Blade Runner," although it would be a crime to compare the two beyond that.
The script is strong from David (and Janet) Peoples, who also had a hand in "Blade Runner." It really is hard to discern what he did versus what was Gilliam's, that's how well these styles mix. There's plenty of symbolism that is far from subtle. Monkeys appear everywhere in this film and countless films are referenced and/or shown, particularly Hitchcock. This is clearly a thoughtfully crafted film and it paces itself very well too. While more themes would have made it a more resonant sci-fi film, instead it prides itself more on being stylistic and at that it succeeds.