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12 Monkeys

12 Monkeys

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Great Film, Terry Gilliam Rules! /
Review: Una Gran película, Terry Gilliam es uno de los mejores directores que conozco. The Movie's Soundtrack is awesome. La música y la calidad del audio son excelentes. Bruce Willis in his best performance. La mejor actuación de Bruce Willis. I totally recommend this film. Se los recomiendo definitivamente. I love it!, me encantó!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: must see 5 star movie
Review: futuristic and could come to pass with today threats of bioligical war

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Yup. No monkeys. Stellar performances. Awesome movie.
Review: Once in a while you get a sci-fi movie that's really science fiction, that challenges your mind, that forces you to think about reality, and that, in addition, is brilliant filmmaking as well. 12 Monkeys is one such movie. Willis and Pitt five excellent performances, and the flashes between future and present keep you engrossed. The constant fake-outs to sway the viewer into thinking Cole is just another psycho work, even though you don't want to believe them. Every little clue is heartstopping. Well, sure, I guess Madeleine Stowe's performance wasn't all that impressive, but it passed. The world should know by know that Bruce Willis is an actor, not some dumb action hero like Arnold, or Steven Seagal, or Van-Damme, who never succeed in other roles. This is an incredible movie, folks. See it now, or the Army of the 12 Monkeys shall be upon you. Argelfraster.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A great sci fiction thiller fun for every body
Review: This is one of the best movies I have ever seen.This sci fiction thiller has it all. I think its more of a thiller than a sci fiction movie.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: More Than the Typical, Less Than a Classic
Review: Films that question the nature and substance of reality, as well as the interaction of a person with that reality, seem to gravitate to Terry Gilliam. Either he writes them himself, as with the modern classic "Brazil," or they are brought to him for viewing through his lens. First there was "The Fisher King," which showed how the perception of reality can become a safe haven for a damaged soul, and now there is "Twelve Monkeys," an exploration of how reality can be what you make of it, but only so far.

As an actor, Bruce Willis has made some interesting choices. Just when it seemed as if he were going to descend into action-star self-parody, like his contemporaries, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, he began making a picture here and there that didn't fit the mold. As the protagonist of "Twelve Monkeys," James Cole, he is a man caught between our present and a nightmarish future that may be, one ravaged by a killer virus that has driven humanity underground into cobbled-together and airtight colonies. He is a prisoner in this future world, "volunteered" to explore the world of the past in order to discover how the viral outbreak began. Armed with this knowledge, mankind may one day return to the surface of their own planet.

Viewed merely as time-travel tale, "Twelve Monkeys" isn't all that groundbreaking. We've seen time-travel stories before. This time, however, it's unclear whether Cole is really from the future, or if he's merely a delusionary schizophrenic. His path crosses and re-crosses that of Dr. Kathryn Railly, a woman with an interest in apocalyptic insanity, and eventually the truth of whether he belongs now or then is revealed.

It's a fascinating concept, especially as Gilliam images it through his camera. Faces from one "time period" appear in the other, cut-and-pasted with a collage-artist's abandon. Events occur, sometimes within minutes of one another, that may have happened or may not have. Despite this, and unfortunately for Gilliam, the script (by David Peoples of "Blade Runner") isn't put together quite as well as its ideas were, because it's fairly obvious almost from the beginning who's right and who's not. What one is left with, then, is the valiant effort of a visionary director to put a quirk and an angle on a screenplay a tad too simply-constructed for its own good.

The trashy, lived-in look of Gilliam's onscreen world is exceptional. The word "antiseptic" is alien to Terry Gilliam. His streets are clogged with trash, dirty and well-trafficked. The buildings we enter are never new, shiny and perfect. Instead, "Twelve Monkeys" takes place in functional surroundings, used structures and sites that have been serviceable for a long time. There are never moments that cry out, "Movie set!" in a Gilliam film, even when the most bizarre images are unspooling on the screen.

This effort is assisted by an able cast, some better than others. To his credit, Bruce Willis shows he has acting ability once again, portraying James Cole as a man constantly teetering between his convictions surrounding reality and unreality. The action-hero roots of his success serve him well in this part, because Cole is not a talker, but a man who acts without many words. What Cole feels is often conveyed by the way Willis' holds his mouth or in the maintenance of his posture. If Bruce Willis ever wanted to step away from films like "Armageddon" and dedicate himself to more demanding fare, he could do it.

Less successful is his opposite number, Madeline Stowe, who plays Dr. Railly. At times, Stowe can seem desirable (as in the action-comedy "Stakeout") and even luminous (as in "The Last of the Mohicans"), but most often her performances are fractured and unappealing, too scattershot to be effective. This is one of those times. Even when the inevitable love angle enters the picture, it plays false. Not because of the story or its handling of the characters, mind you, but because Stowe has managed to suck any level of charm from her portrayal of Dr. Railly, presenting the audience with a shrill and unpleasant woman.

Most notable in the supporting cast is, of course, Brad Pitt. He plays a mental patient who may or may not be of essential importance in the destruction of the world and the performance is pitch-perfect. Pitt is, like Willis, another actor of extreme range, but he's at his best playing off-kilter parts like these. His Jeffrey Goines is twitchy, unstable and immediately fascinating.

"Twelve Monkeys" ends, then, as less than a sum of its parts. Entertaining and sometimes engrossing, it is hamstrung by a script that is not willing to take the ultimate plunge into the maddening concept of what is real, what is not and the possibility that a distinction will not be made before the credits roll. Ultimately, we are all poorer for the loss.

Grade: C

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: 12 Monkeys is Brad Pitt's best performance
Review: This is one of my favorite movies. I have seen it many many times. Brad Pitt deserved the Oscar for his performance. Im not a Pitt fan, this is his only role I liked him in. He was outstanding. One of the best jobs by a supporting actor that I have seen.

Willis was exceptional as well. I would say it was one of his best efforts, if not his best.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: What a rip-off! There were NO monkeys in this film!!!
Review: Actually, I thought of this one as kind of a weird "Back to the Future" clone. Still, nobody does weirdness as well as Terry Gilliam, who is one of the most innovative directors out there! An interesting movie, despite the strangeness.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Bravo Zulu from me to you, Terry Gilliam!!!
Review: I just recently bought the movie on DVD (special edition) and I can't stop watching it. The opening screen of the movie is a quote from a "mental divergent" in a Philadelphia mental institution warning of a deadly virus that will kill over 5,000,000,000 people in the future. This perfectly sets the stage for the two connotations of this movie: is this just another mad man roaming the streets preaching of the end of the world, or is this a truely a time travler that came from the future to save humanity? Buy this DVD, and you decide.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: *****You MUST watch this movie a second time!*****
Review: This movie is much better the second time through. The way the end ties in with the beginning is absolutely haunting! This movie is one you will talk about after watching it. Rent it today!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A grand directorial vision of a dark futuristic romance.
Review: Bruce Willis deserved more recognition than was received for this film. 12 Monkeys is his best performance yet. This is also Terry Gilliam's best film direction to date. The story is very intelligent with many extra that cannot be appreciated by a single viewing. As for the DVD it boats very good video and exceptional 5.1 audio. The extra bonuses make this a winner. Extras include The making of 12 Monkeys, full length commentary by Terry Gilliam and his editor plus stills of costumes, concept art and commercial art. This is a must have.


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