Intriguing mental game

Rating: 9/10 (20 February 2002)

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** Nowadays it is hard to find original and thought-provoking scripts . Therefore I will give my deepest congratulations to the Peoples family for their tight and sophisticated play (I will have to note that I have downloaded the screenplay from the internet and Terry Gilliam has followed the script with religious devoutness , scene by scene and sentence to sentence : he omitted or changed 5 - 6 lines tops ) . I know that the idea was inspired by a French short film but this adaptation is very successful . It was a matter of execution both from the writers and the director . Many viewers have commented on the various issues the film deals with . They have labeled it as "sci fi" , "time travel" , "prophecy about the biological weapons and the nuclear destruction " etc , etc . I admit that all these subjects are resident in the film but the spinal column is nothing more than a poetic tale of paranoid doubt and vague , blurr memories . It is a search deep down in the abyss of a man 's brain . James Cole (Bruce Willis) is a convict from the future who is sent back in time in 1996 to collect information for a deadly virus which will extinguish 99 % of the human population . He meets a psychiatrist Kathryn Railly (Madeline Stowe) who wants to help him despite James is a violent and potentially dangerous man (just like a savage beast). He also meets Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt) , a slightly deranged young man whose father is a famous scientist who does research on viruses and is highly likely linked to the total destruction of man kind . This is the basic plot . The scenes in the mental asylum are quite surrealistic and give the stigma of the film . Twelve Monkeys is not your typical sci - fi with laser weapons , aliens , explosions , building collapses etc . Most of the movie is the roaming of James and Kathryn with the car which gives us a sense of a road movie . The fact that you don 't get bored with this non - adrenalin proves the success of the script and the great interest of the characters and the basic premise (despite the orders from the PTBT
and the repeated statements from Cole himself , his mission is essentially the salvation of the world although he doesn't admit it ) .

Twelve Monkeys is without doubt a confusing movie with a complex plot . There are questions which are answered by the end and questions that remain unsolved ,like it is never explained what is the husky old voice James hears throughout the film . One of the best lines which summarizes the madness of the whole film is " Maybe I am in the next cell . Maybe they (the 5 scientists)put me to spy on you . Or MAYBE I am only inside your mind " . As you realize the awkward and perplexed script is kind of hard to follow . Therefore the ultra-predictable finale (even a 3 year old can figure out the ending 50 minutes into the film) was an obligatory compromise of the writers in order to make the film digestible . James 's dreams are obviously foreseeing and knowing the prophecy you sit back and you are waiting for it to be fulfilled . That is not the end of the suspense though.*********SPOILER ALERT****t 2/3 into the movie a very interesting question rises : is this mission true or James is simply an insane person who lives in a fantastic illusional world ? This I believe is the greatest virtue of Twelve Monkeys and that is why I like it so much . The doubt factor is not inherent from the beginning of the film (like in "Almost Dead" with Shannen Doherty or "The Dead Can't Lie" with Tommy Lee Jones") but emerges after the middle and not at all in a gimmicky mode which would have left the viewer feeling cheated . The handling of James' questionable sanity from him and Kathryn and the schizophrenic situation of not knowing what is reality and myth is perfectly executed. I don 't know if it was inspired from Vertigo or other films of the maitre but if it was a rehash it was a good one . Fortunately just before the end the "historic truth" is restored with tangible evidence that all these really happened ********END SPOILER******** I will urge you to see the film twice . I did it , and it was a wonderful experience . There is too much information for the brain to retain with just one viewing . There are plot elements which play a crucial part for the comprehension of the events and the fight against the tricks of the mind . For example I hadn 't realized the vitally important vocal messages from the future (watch carefully) .
I will close the review with comments on the crew members . As you already observed I regard Twelve Monkeys as a script movie and not a director 's . Unfortunately the brilliantly talented Gilliam of "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" or even the campy "Time Bandits" backsteps to a coldly professional subtle work . I believe he could have done more . The same goes for the music and the rather lame cinematography . Ok I admit that this nebulous photography works fine in the future scenes or in the foggy streets where the twelve monkeys headquarters are , but other than that it gets annoying . As for the cast Brad Pitt 's overrated performance is enjoyable (but not great) , Bruce Willis does a very good job as the mysterious convict and the most underrated performance is definitely Madeline Stowe 's . She is the only "logic" axis of the narration . Stowe gives a great appearance throughout the entire spectrum of her character 's aspects . The professional inquisitive psychiatrist , the frightened kidnap victim , the compassionate doctor who wants to help a "lost soul" who is suffering from hallucinations , the detective / resolver of this frighteningly paranoid situation and finally the protector of the haunted man . Stowe is subtle , grounded and effectively realistic in her performance .
All in all , if you want a different kind of entertainment check this out . However if you hate messy mystic films which look like a giant puzzle like "Dune" then you should clearly stay out . Gilliam 's film is a different original unusual experience .
A surrealistic masterpiece TWELVE MONKEYS 8.5 / 10