Terry Gilliam's Twelve Monkeys is one of those films that I'd seen the majority of in various sittings but never really watched all the way through. And you have to admit its one of those strange 'cult-ish' films. The thing that struck me while watching it though was the believability of Brad Pitt as an absolute nutter, he has of course the Fight Club role were hes a little mad, but in this he is literally just mental. He's one of those Hollywood A-listers that appear in all those popular mainstream films like the Oceans trilogy and Mr and Mrs Smith but he also has some less popular gems. Other than Brad Pitt's character Bruce Willis has to cope with the ins and outs of mental illness as he struggles to cope with what is reality as he is forced to move back and forth between 1996 and 2035. The film is does well to try and convey the nature of reality and the subject that comes up in many films of Armageddon and the human races ability to wipe ourselves out. This never really feels like its one of those end of the world films though it feels more psychological than disaster, it hasn't got that un-needed dramatacism that comes hand in hand with the majority of Armageddon films. Without the un-needed drama it becomes more edgy and believable than say for instance Independence day, Armageddon, Day after tomorrow, which all cope with the subject of the end of the world. Overall the subject is artfully and cleverly depicted as apposed to the in your face aspect of the other films I have mentioned. This may be however because the majority of the film is based before the event as 'James Cole' Bruce Willis' character tries to gather information on 'the army of the twelve monkeys' the group thought to be behind the destruction of 99% of the worlds population. The scenes set in 2035 have an interesting Blade Runner / Fifth Element type quality were a lo-tech vision of the technology in 2035 is tried to be realized, for instance the ball of TV screens that 'James Cole' is sat in front of during the 'present-time' scenes. After finally watching the film from start to finish in one sitting I actually came away with a higher appreciation for it than I'd expected and if you haven't seen it its well worth a watch.
Terry Gilliam's Twelve Monkeys is one of those films that I'd seen the majority of in various sittings but never really watched all the way through. And you have to admit its one of those strange 'cult-ish' films. The thing that struck me while watching it though was the believability of Brad Pitt as an absolute nutter, he has of course the Fight Club role were hes a little mad, but in this he is literally just mental. He's one of those Hollywood A-listers that appear in all those popular mainstream films like the Oceans trilogy and Mr and Mrs Smith but he also has some less popular gems. Other than Brad Pitt's character Bruce Willis has to cope with the ins and outs of mental illness as he struggles to cope with what is reality as he is forced to move back and forth between 1996 and 2035. The film is does well to try and convey the nature of reality and the subject that comes up in many films of Armageddon and the human races ability to wipe ourselves out. This never really feels like its one of those end of the world films though it feels more psychological than disaster, it hasn't got that un-needed dramatacism that comes hand in hand with the majority of Armageddon films. Without the un-needed drama it becomes more edgy and believable than say for instance Independence day, Armageddon, Day after tomorrow, which all cope with the subject of the end of the world. Overall the subject is artfully and cleverly depicted as apposed to the in your face aspect of the other films I have mentioned. This may be however because the majority of the film is based before the event as 'James Cole' Bruce Willis' character tries to gather information on 'the army of the twelve monkeys' the group thought to be behind the destruction of 99% of the worlds population. The scenes set in 2035 have an interesting Blade Runner / Fifth Element type quality were a lo-tech vision of the technology in 2035 is tried to be realized, for instance the ball of TV screens that 'James Cole' is sat in front of during the 'present-time' scenes. After finally watching the film from start to finish in one sitting I actually came away with a higher appreciation for it than I'd expected and if you haven't seen it its well worth a watch.
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