One clever movie

Rating: 9/10 (24 December 2002)

Quite an impressive work by Terry Gilliam, and that's a nice change after all the mind-twisting numbness of Brazil.
12 Monkeys has a brilliantly constructed plot about the destruction of mankind by a virus, but I won't go into the plot details here. Bruce Willis gave one of the best performances in his life, but I don't agree with the majority of people about Brad Pitt's acting. He is quite distracting and a bit exaggerated, but obviously he's having a time of his life playing a nutty character.
The best moment is when the character is in the theatre, feeling a sense of deja vu, that he is somewhat re-living a phase of his memory. That scene became genuinely creepy when Hitchcock's Vertigo is playing in the background.
For those of you who struggled with Brazil (watched it several times already) 12 Monkeys is more fun and comprehensible, but by no means I'm suggesting that the movie itself is simple-minded. If there is any criticism, I'll say that the ending is just isn't satisfying enough. After all the twists and thrill, one would expect an equally, if not more, startling ending. But it ended in a way like someone has walked around in a circle.
Highly recommended viewing!