A thought-provoking and bizarre piece of sci-fi

Rating: 8/10 (9 December 2016)

Terry Gilliam's Twelve Monkeys came at a time where science fiction was always among the year's top blockbusters. Back then, one would have to be extremely innovative within the genre to create something new, as many thought it had all been done before.
Terry Gilliam brings a twisted sense of charisma and fun to a film that is also depressingly somber at times. This mix of bizarre visuals, strange character interactions and chillingly effective time-travel novelties makes Twelve Monkeys one of the most unique and memorable Sci- Fi movies of the 90's.
Twelve Monkeys has a few incredibly talented front-runners including Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt and Madeleine Stowe. Bruce Willis at the time was one of Hollywood's most recognizable actors, mostly for his roles as John McClane in the vastly popular Die Hard franchise. Here though, we see Willis not as a gritty action hero, but a desperate an emotionally panicked prisoner. His character is tasked the mission to save most of humanity from a deadly virus, but little does he know, completing this task is literally impossible. In this universe, you cannot change the future and we are well aware of this as the audience, but watching Willis' persistence and desperation in his attempt to solve an impossible mystery is frustrating and heart wrenching to watch. He does an excellent job displaying his emotional confusion as even he begins to doubt his own sanity. We know that the story doesn't have a happy ending but Willis' performance makes us desperately want one.
Despite Willis' excellent performance, Brad Pitt undoubtedly steals every scene he is in. While he sadly doesn't have too much screen time, every single scene with his character becomes some of the films best and most memorable moments. His portrayal as a patient from a mental institution is so perfectly goofy and hilariously exaggerated, yet he does give some interesting philosophies and insights throughout the movie as we find out how important his character really is to the story. He is easily one of the most memorable sci-fi characters ever.
The story, while never simple, is written in such a way where it is understandable to the casual viewer but also a deeply layered and perplexing narrative for the more attentive viewers to try and uncover. There are many mind-bending little details as the story progresses but by the end Gilliam does a great job of making sure all these smaller details fit in with the rest of the film.
I only had a few issues with the film and the main issue I had was with the pacing. There were some moments in Twelve Monkeys that felt like they were dragging a bit. The movie was entertaining for the most part, but there were times between the gripping narrative where the scenes felt extremely subdued and frankly quite boring. Some portions of the film felt somewhat uneven due to this rapid change of pace. I also think that the love story could have been a little more developed. I wanted the movie's couple to succeed in their mission and live happily ever after, but that was mainly due to their acting abilities as individuals. While the characters were great on their own, I never really felt too much emotional connection between the two characters that end up falling for each other. Their love story feels kind of rushed as it really comes out of nowhere. There was one particular scene that was excellently done and that was when Willis' character first realizes that the woman from his "dreams" is the woman he has been working with the whole time. The scene shared between the two characters here was incredibly impactful, but I never felt that same level of emotional connection to the couple after this short sequence.
Twelve Monkeys is a strange yet thought-provoking work of science fiction from an undoubtedly talented director. A gripping and intriguingly original story is paired with a cast of excellently developed characters. The film overall is very easy to love as the bizarre imagery and the sometimes wacky/dark humor makes Twelve Monkeys a blast to watch. While the pacing could've been better and the love story could've felt more natural, Twelve Monkeys is certainly one of the best sci-fi films of the 90's and it still holds up considerably well by today's standards. Just be sure to go into it with an unbiased mind as things are never quite as they appear.