When this first came out, I watched it three times in a single weekend, as it seemed necessary to do so in order to make sense of the story. This time around, however, despite not having seen it in more than ten years, I didn’t have to. I don’t know if that’s because I subconciously remembered the bits I needed to pay attention to, or whether I got lucky, but still – you have to concentrate or things really do pass you by.
Bruce Willis’ character, Cole, is sent back in time to find out where a virus that wiped out most of humanity started out. Unfortunately, he’s initially sent back too far, and his scrambled brain ramblings about the future gets him locked up in an asylum. There, he meets Goines (Brad Pitt) who tries to help him escape. Cole is taken back to the future (his present), and then sent back in time again, correctly, to just before the virus outbreak begins.
There’s a major twist in the plot, when it seems that Cole, because of his conversations in the asylum, actually planted the seed of the idea of wiping out humanity in Goines’ head, as Goines goes on to form The Army of the Twelve Monkeys – the group blamed, in the future, for the virus. Phew, eh?
But that’s just the start of the complication. Cole’s assigned psychiatrist, Kathryn Railly, had been researching claims of people throughout history who suggested the world was going to end. Their stories match up with Cole’s, and it turns out that they’re all other people who had been sent back in time, like Cole had. Then there’s another twist when Cole starts to believe he is actually insane, and his time in the future is entirely in his head. And then there’s another twist at the end.
It’s all very confusing, unless you’re paying attention. But it’s cleverly done, and covers so many topics (mental health, germ warfare, time travel, animal rights) that it plays out like an expertly woven tapestry.
Verdict: 5/5
Love twelve monkeys…one of my favourite films
Brad Pitt plans a great lunatic
And the twists and turns are fantastic