Movie Review Twelve Monkeys

Tweet

1995 - Spoiler alerts A fabulous, if noir dark Terry Giliam movie set in the apocalyptic near future. Most of humanity has been wiped out by a virus in 1996, with the survivors living in a crumbling underground city. In 2035, James Cole, (Bruce WIllis) a convicted psychopath, is sent into the past to try to get early samples of the virus so an antidote can be worked on in 2035. Changing the history is deemed impossible. Though aimed at 1996, Cole ends up in 1990, and his ravings about time travel, and bizarre references to the 12 Monkeys get him incarcerated in a mental institution. Only two people pay him much attention, Nurse Rally (Madeleine Stowe) and another patient, Goines (Brad Pitt). Dragged back and forth in time, Cole eventually convinces Rally that he isn't mad, and in 1996, they follow clues to the Twelve Monkeys to find that they are just a harmless animal liberation group. However one minor member of the group has been inspired by Pitt's references to the virus and he has stolen it from a lab. Giving pursuit, Cole is shot dead at the airport, an incident witnessed by him when he was just a child. Inspired by Hitchcock's Vertigo, and a remake of the French short movie La Jetée from 1962, this is an amazing, ultimately sad drama about the inevitability of fate and destiny. Great performances all round, with Pitt nominated for an Oscar. Youtube Rosemary Clooney - Little Red Monkey Arthur Chappell