TWELVE MONKEYS (R)
Directed by Terry Gilliam Running Time: 129 minutes Originally Released: January 5, 1996 (USA-Wide)
Reviewed by E. Benjamin Kelsey
* * * 1/2 (out of four)
Time travel is a fascinating, confusing, very complex subject. That's one reason movies about time travel are, in theory, fascinating, confusing, and very complex. TWELVE MONKEYS is a prime example of these attributes . . . an *excellent* example.
In the 2020's, a date never specified but pretty conclusive, James Cole (Bruce Willis) is an underground prisoner. Yes, a *literal* underground prisoner. You see, most of the Earth's population, 99% to be exact, was eliminated by a mysterious virus about thirty years earlier; a virus that has forced the survivors to forever live in an underground, hellish sanctuary. Forever, that is, unless thru the use of unwilling "volunteers", they can discover the beginning of this virus and learn how to destroy it.
The "volunteers" are prisoners, used like guinea pigs and thrust back in time with orders to gain information about the plague. Cole is chosen by the dictator-like group of scientists as a very promising candidate. One problem: time travel is still a shaky form of transportation, and when Cole is meant to go back to November of 1996 (one month before the deaths began), he is instead sent to April 1990.
1990 proves to be too early for Cole to gain any information about the virus. Instead, he is found to be insane and locked up in an institution. During all this we are introduced to two crucial characters: Dr. Kathryn Railly (Madeleine Stowe), the psychiatrist in charge of Cole's evaluation, and Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt), a patient in the asylum and the son of a Nobel Prize winning scientist. Cole miraculously escapes the institution, traveling back "home" to tell the scientists what he has learned, which is nothing. But, while he's back in the 21st century, we do learn that Goines is the man behind the Army of the Twelve Monkeys, a militant radical group believed to spawn the virus that destroys mankind. So, in just a matter of minutes to us, Cole is sent back, this time correctly to 1996 (via World War I - see the movie to find out why).
In 1996, Cole quickly locates Railly and abducts her, reminding her that she had promised six years ago to help him out. Railly is a compassionate, albeit frightened woman who wants to help Cole, but can't be convinced of his absurd tales of time travel and apocalyptic prophesies. Eventually, pieces of the puzzle start falling into place just as two conflicting elements come to pass: Cole begins to believe he *is* insane while Railly begins to believe he isn't!
We're almost as messed up in the head as Cole as we try to figure out who's who, what's what, and even when's when! We don't know who to trust and we don't know what's behind a lot of things, but it all starts to unravel and, like a good time travel story, wrap around so the beginning and ending blend into one and we're stuck in an M.C. Escher-like mind trip.
TWELVE MONKEYS is an awesome flick that explores time travel with a surprisingly believable approach. They're not trying to prevent the past. Everything that has happened *has* happened and there's no changing it. They are merely observing it with hopes of a better future. Willis has proved himself quite a good actor with roles like this and in PULP FICTION. He's good at action roles because unlike Segal and Van Damme, Willis has depth, not just muscles and a chiseled chin. Stowe does a fine job, but the real performance here is by Pitt. As scrutinized as he can be, Pitt is an excellent actor who caters to a variety of characters. He very much deserved the Best Supporting Actor nomination he got for this role.
TWELVE MONKEYS isn't the light-hearted time travel movie we're used to seeing. This ain't no BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE (thankfully). It's not a comedy, but you couldn't call it an action film either. It's more of a brutal psychological thriller that's so mentally captivating and intriguing that one can't help but sit wide-eyed thru every scene, ears perked so as not to miss a crucial bit of information. Trust me, there's a lot of them. TWELVE MONKEYS is enjoyable enough to sit through several times. In fact, if you're ever going to figure out this film, you just might have to! Then again, that's part of what makes this film so fun.
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