12 MONKEYS
A film review by Chuck Dowling
Copyright 1996 Chuck Dowling
(1995) ****1/2 - C:Bruce Willis, Madeline Stowe, Brad Pitt, Christopher Plummer, David Morse, Frank Gorshin.
A very entertaining science fiction story about a man from the future (Willis) who is sent into the past to gather information about a virus which virtually wipes out the world's population. The plague forces the survivors to live underground while animals take control of the earth's surface. Now those people have developed the ability of time travel and aren't trying to prevent the virus from starting, but simply to find information about it's beginnings to develop a cure for themselves.
What makes the film so good is that it's completely different from 99% of the films Hollywood churns out of its cookie cutter factory. Most films are linear, and you know exactly where the film is going and what will happen when it gets there. But not "12 Monkeys". This film is all over the place, bouncing from World War I to 1990 to 1996 to the future, and not necessarily in that order. BUT, not in a way that's confusing. As long as you give the film your full attention, it will make sense.
I also liked the fact that their time travel system was far from perfect. Willis is sent to a couple of incorrect time periods before finally reaching his objecive, and even those mistakes figure into the plot. Now as far as the theory of time travel goes, about what if you can change the past by blinking because you weren't supposed to be there to blink in the grand scheme of things, etc. etc. I don't even want to jump into that type of discussion. But my main argument in defense of time travel films is that time travel has never been accomplished, so no one can argue about how it's supposed to work. So until time travel is made possible (which is doubtful, especially in my lifetime), sci-fi films can use it almost anyway they wish and they'll get no argument from me.
I was immensely entertained by "12 Monkeys". It kept me guessing, it was original, and that's good enough for me. Brad Pitt received a well deserved Oscar nomination and won a Golden Globe award for his performance as the deranged son of a scientist, who may or may not be responsible for the spread of the virus.
-- Chuck Dowling Visit Chuck's Movie Reviews at http://users.southeast.net/~chuckd21/ Over 1,500 movies rated and/or reviewed! Movie news, box office reports, film related links, and reader's polls and reviews.
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