Humanity lives underground. The Earth’s surface is severely contaminated by a man-made virus thought to be released by a homegrown terrorist organization. James Cole (Bruce Willis) is sent back in time to find out who actually set the virus free. As directed by Terry Gilliam, 12 Monkeys is grim and head-tripping. Brad Pitt shines in a wacky supporting role, as he often does, and manages to simultaneously evoke an empty future while harkening back to films of the past, like Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (which appears in one key scene) and Chris Marker’s French short film La Jetée, of which Gilliam’s film is a remake of sorts.
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