A visionary filmmaker, Gilliam has few competitors in terms of sheer inventiveness and visual imagination. In each of his films, he constructs a universe that overwhelms the senses with bravura production design, but in the process neglects dramatic logic and narrative coherence, basic principles that would make his stories more involving and meaningful. Gilliam’s work is long on sensibility, short on sense.
A dark and somber sci-fier in the mold of “Blade Runner,” Terry Gilliam’s “12 Monkeys” is a spectacular mess, an excessively complicated film that attempts to be timely by blending a “virus” thriller with a post-apocalyptic anti-science drama. Gilliam’s seventh feature is neither as visually compelling as “Brazil” nor as emotionally gripping as “The Fisher King.” A cast boasting two of Hollywood’s hottest stars, Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt, should elevate pic’s visibility in the crowded holiday season, but ambitious, big-budget effort will ultimately prove a B.
A dark and somber sci-fier in the mold of “Blade Runner,” Terry Gilliam’s “12 Monkeys” is a spectacular mess, an excessively complicated film that attempts to be timely by blending a “virus” thriller with a post-apocalyptic anti-science drama. Gilliam’s seventh feature is neither as visually compelling as “Brazil” nor as emotionally gripping as “The Fisher King.” A cast boasting two of Hollywood’s hottest stars, Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt, should elevate pic’s visibility in the crowded holiday season, but ambitious, big-budget effort will ultimately prove a B.
- 12/22/1995
- by Emanuel Levy
- Variety Film + TV
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