terry gilliam's first foray into science fiction since 1985's "brazil" marked the biggest success of his career (thus far at least). bruce willis is wonderfully overshadowed by a young brad pitt, in his pre-fight club days showing off the depths of his potential. indeed his turn as mental patient turned animal activist jeffrey goines proved that he wasnt just a pretty face, in a turn that is both full of humour and terror in equal measures. thats not to say that bruce willis isnt great either, his performance as jailbird turned human saviour james cole is the performance of his career, and probably the best thing to come out of any of the resurrected careers of pulp fiction.
the world of the future portrayed in "twelve monkeys" is that of a dystopian one, wherein a virus has ravaged the human race. its up to james cole to go back in time to prevent the terrorist attack that caused the decline in civilization. "twelve monkeys" is one of the films from the late nineties that deals with the subject of terrorism in the way in which it existed prior to the events of 9/11 and as such is an interesting take on the subject.
the film deals with the familiar gilliam themes of memory, time and perceived madness. in this case the most obvious comparison would be "brazil", but i think that the nature of the issues are far less ambiguous in "twelve monkeys" than that film.
for me, "twelve monkeys" sits alongside "brazil" as gilliam's finest film. its strange considering that "twelve monkeys" may actually be his most commercial feature, but i just think it works so well.
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