[usr 5]
In a future world devastated by disease, a convict is sent back in time to gather information about the man-made virus that wiped out most of the human population on the planet.
The movie that put Brad Pitt on the map. Terry Gilliam. Bruce Willis. Madeleine Stowe. A movie about time travel and insanity with Terry Gilliam’s keen wit and cartoonish violence. As far as movies go, this story of a convict sent back in time to prevent the viral outbreak that eliminated human existence, stands up to the true test of time without ever dating itself.
Terry Gilliam’s particular aesthetic seems underrated in our day and age but that’s probably more to do with the fact that we haven’t seen his aesthetic in quite some time. Given the cartoonish nature of his films it’s often a humorous taste on any genre he’s working in but “Twelve Monkeys” feels the most deadly serious of all of them.
I personally love the ouroboros of the film. Time Travel is often one of those things people use as conventions or, in the process of exploring, realize it’s more of a time loop than a time jump. Bruce Willis descends in and out of madness struggling to decipher what’s real, what’s illusion, and what came to him from the future.
Bruce Willis stays in top form throughout the flick. The real discovery is Brad Pitt who proved himself to be more than just a pretty face after this movie. In hindsight, his performance in “Twelve Monkeys” could easily be an early audition for his later role in “Fight Club.” Either way, we realize now that this movie is the early trappings of Brad Pitt’s serious phase of his career. Since then we’ve come to respect the work he does and it all started with “Twelve Monkeys.”
The movie’s incredible production design stands out among the rest. Gilliam’s concocted set pieces always fill the frame, but in this film, they stand out. Pumping vacuums, iron pipes, sharp building corners. Down to the tiny details throughout the film, everything relates back to everything else. Graffitied photos play a role later on.
Gilliam’s film exists on the perfectly solipsistic scale. Time falls full circle and events from the past perpetrate the future. Edited in a linear story fashion but the events jump around. Twenty-Five years later this movie still rules and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Available on a Special Collector’s Edition Blu-ray October 30th
