palpable tale of apocalyptic dread...

Rating: 7/10 (4 September 2005)

"12 Monkeys" is a relentless zigzag of a film with a twisted plot of unexpected turns...it launches us into the future (in this case, 1996) and the past (in this case, 1990, or sometimes even earlier) with such jerky frequency that 'the present' is difficult to discern. Of course, this type of disorientation is typical of director Terry Gilliam, whose films are often marked by an unbridled visionary wackiness that threatens sensory overload (just check out his adaptation of "Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas"). With "12 Monkeys," though, a more somber tone pervades as confused, possibly schizophrenic time traveler James Cole (a properly detached Bruce Willis) enlists the help of psychiatrist Kathryn Railly (Madeleine Stowe) to stop an organization--known only as "The Army of the Twelve Monkeys"--bent on carrying out an apocalyptic plan. Or is all as it seems? Perhaps it would be too generous to put "12 Monkeys" on the same pedestal as a vague, thought-provoking work like "Eraserhead," but I cannot deny the David Lynch-quality this film possesses. With a nonlinear structure and a story where every detail seems to contribute to a larger whole, the movie easily invites multiple viewings and interpretations. Gilliam's trademark usage of odd camera angles and his fixation on eccentric characters is ever-present, but the maturity of the telling is a marked departure from the norm--this is a downbeat, fearful vision of the end of the world (Brad Pitt's manic spoiled rich-kid is less a source of comic relief and more a chilling reminder of the escalating insanity of the tale) that offers no easy answers.