Absolutely Surreal And Utterly Bleak.

Rating: 9/10 (9 September 2019)

Absolutely surreal, utterly bleak and one of the best time travel movies I've ever seen.
When it comes to the story's performance, Brad Pitt's character, Jeffrey, is a standout performance for his expressions and body language - the little inflections and facial movement in his delivery really emphasise the insanity of his character while working as a brilliant red herring for who caused the viral outbreak that decimated the population of the earth as it's revealed that it wasn't the titular 12 Monkeys that caused it, but instead the assistant of Jeffrey's father, a virologist, and the story unfolds in such a manner that you realise that the main character, James Cole (Bruce Willis), is part of a closed 'causal loop' with his actions leading to the viral outbreak happening in the first place. And despite its many twists and turns, the plot somehow never gets overly convoluted or confusing. Also, the romance subplot between Cole and his psychiatrist, Dr. Railly, is surprisingly believable and touching. The neo-noir/steampunk-esque set design and props are also gorgeously created and showcased through the film's (mostly) excellent shot composition, like the strange 'eyeball' contraption that observes Cole in the scientist's room or the dilapidated underground area shown in the opening credits sequence. However, as you might guess from the phrase "(mostly) excellent", I didn't think the cinematography was perfect. Mainly it's because I felt that the use of dutch angles was overused. I get that the atmosphere of the film is uneasy and the 'dutches' reflect that, but at the same time, I definitely think it could have been toned down significantly through more varied camera positioning and blocking.
Overall: 9/10; maybe high 8 or lower, somewhere around there.