12 MONKEYS
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 8.4 Alternative Scale: ***1/2 out of ****
United States, 1995 Running Length: 2:09 MPAA Classification: R (Violence, profanity, nudity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt, Christopher Plummer, David Morse Director: Terry Gilliam Producer: Charles Roven Screenplay: David Peoples and Janet Peoples, inspired by LA JETEE Cinematography: Roger Pratt Music: Paul Buckmaster U.S. Distributor: Universal Pictures
Any film that enters the realm of time travel does so at its own peril. You need look no further than last year's disastrous TIMECOP to understand why. Even James Cameron's TERMINATOR films treaded uncertainly through the minefield of paradoxes created by people venturing across the landscape of their own pasts. Thus, it's a refreshing to encounter a movie with a logical, intelligent approach to the dangers of zipping through time. While I won't claim that TWELVE MONKEYS has a decisive solution (how can anything be "decisive" when it's so firmly grounded in fantasy?), this approach makes sense, primarily because the time trippers here aren't trying to change the past (hence, wiping out reality), but are instead observing it to make a better future.
As it is, though, that future looks pretty bleak. On December 13, 1996, in Philadelphia, a malignant virus was let loose. Months later, 5 billion worldwide were dead. The few survivors were relegated to living underground in germ-free cellars and tunnels. On the surface, Earth was ruled by animals, insects, and vegetation. Mankind's legacy to the planet was its slowly-decaying cities. Witness one of TWELVE MONKEYS' early scenes, where bears and lions roam the deserted streets surrounding Philadelphia's snow-encrusted City Hall. It's a chilling, almost gothic, sequence that perfectly establishes the film's dark mood.
James Cole (Bruce Willis) is a 21st century convict living in a hellhole prison sometime in the 2020s. In order to reduce his sentence, or even obtain a full pardon, he "volunteers" to travel back in time to the 1990s to obtain a pure sample of the virus so that modern science can analyze it. Cole's trip takes him to 1990, where he is incarcerated in a Maryland asylum under the care of psychiatrist Kathryn Railly (Madeleine Stowe). One of Cole's fellow inmates is a totally off-the- wall nutcase named Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt), the son of renowned virologist Leland Goines (Christopher Plummer), a man whose name is featured prominently in future headlines.
TWELVE MONKEYS spans four time periods: 1917 in the trenches of World War One, 1990 in Maryland, 1996 in Maryland and Philadelphia, and the 2020s deep beneath Philadelphia. Like director Terry Gilliam's previous efforts BRAZIL and TIME BANDITS, this movie is saturated with atmosphere. The grim, gray film has two tones: somber and apocalyptic. Those in search of feel good escapism would do better to check out MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS.
For the most part, TWELVE MONKEYS is a maze of plot twists and turns. Yet, despite all the hiccuping through time, the story is neither exceptionally obtuse nor hard to follow. In fact, it's possible to make shrewd guesses about some of what's going to happen. Even a movie as complex as this doesn't want to lose its audience along the way -- at least not for too long.
One of the most unsettling aspects of TWELVE MONKEYS is that the story is told from the perspective of an unreliable narrator, even though it's ostensibly third-person point-of-view. There are multiple interpretations for the entire picture. It can be viewed as a somewhat atypical science fiction adventure, a black comedy/social commentary, the paranoid nightmares of a deluded madman, or some combination of all three. It's up to each individual to determine which is the most likely "truth", and this storyline ambiguity, more than anything else, makes TWELVE MONKEYS a consistently engaging motion picture.
Although the movie as a whole is open to interpretation, certain elements of Gilliam's film are straightforward. TWELVE MONKEYS uses a rapier-sharp wit to skewer both sides of the animal rights' movement, as well as the general conscience of society. The scenes of wild animals running amok might recall JUMANJI to some, but Gilliam's sense of style makes for more startling and lasting images. If anything, these sequences underline the ephemeral nature of humanity's supremacy on this planet.
While script, settings, and production design are obvious strengths of TWELVE MONKEYS, acting is not. Bruce Willis and Madeleine Stowe are adequate (and, at times, perhaps a little moreso), but neither does anything noteworthy here. Brad Pitt gives a deliciously over-the-top performance that, while derivative of Jack Nicholson's more memorable roles, is nevertheless enjoyable -- enjoyable, but not superlative. Supporting players like Christopher Plummer and David Morse (who outacted Nicholson in THE CROSSING GUARD) are hardly worth mentioning.
Those looking for a perfect winter double feature might consider matching TWELVE MONKEYS with Jeunet and Caro's THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN. While each motion picture maintains its own identity, there are numerous similarities, the most obvious being a darkly twisted view of an apocalyptic future. The films compliment each other, and it's plain that the directors have precise visions that are effectively, and sometimes spectacularly, realized. Best of all, both movies challenge the mind -- something that too few productions can be accused of these days.
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