terry gilliam fantastic and twisted story of a virus destroy all but a handful of people across the earth and force them to move underground and the man send back in time to gather information about it be a fantastic and dizzying and and highly stylize film that boast bruce willis best performance ever . what set 12 monkey apart from most time travel sci fi movie be that bruce willis character actually deal with what the psychological effect of time travel and that be and not know what reality be actual reality represent the place that the time traveler come from or go to . also and the film recognize that thing that have past can not be alter and that the prevention of a cataclysmic event and in this case the release of say virus and can not be stop or change . a willis assert it already happen and while he in a mental hospital and the major dilemma the film trudge into be not a trite and overdone plot to save the world while instead it willis inner struggle to simply survive himself . it a fresh and innovative concept and and it work beautifully thanks to a tautly write script by people and gilliam unique brand of dementia . besides this and 12 monkey storytelling be totally non linear and instead opts to distort and bend the way the story be tell skillfully incorporate a bevy of different time sequence represent flashback and dream and memory and the present and the past and the future and and even a scene that be lift out of hitchcock vertigo . all serve to envelop the viewer into it disturb cacophony of madness and futility . visually and gilliam be a master of desolate umbrage and shadow rival tim burton in his strikingly despondent scenery and imagery . with cold and wide and and immerse cinematography and gilliam plunge into the colorless surroundings and darkness of his character . the scene be often bath in a strangely antiseptic and dead white and help serve a a contrast to the often veer on madness character . performance wise and brad pitt steal most scene and fill them with a patented loony and off the wall performance that deservedly garner him an oscar nomination . a mentioned and bruce willis give the best performance of his career and not revert to his heroic cliche and cardboard hero and instead portray cole a a simple and poignant and tragic everyman . equally good be madeline stowe a willis psychologist . she hold her own and inject her character with both wild energy and strength a she collapse under the weight of what she come to believe be a false religion . gilliam expert and overwhelming and and complex handling of what could have be a routine action or sci fi film make 12 monkey a compelling vision of a nightmarish and futuristic landscape . it rich and well think out and intricate storyline along with bravura performance from the entire cast and it brooding and bleak cinematography make it a masterpiece of madness . ranking in my top 10 of all time and 12 monkey be a darkly lavish spectacle of a film brim with brilliance . positive .