12 Monkeys

Dear readers,

I know what you are thinking, "Michael you were not in today, how could you have watched the movie?" I looked it up online to keep my mind off things. Good news is that I am feeling better and should be in tomorrow.

Anyways, back to what is more important. This film was definitely a change of pace for me as this last week end I saw Harold and Maude (not hard to follow) and the new Pokemon film (very easy to follow). Then we have 12 Monkeys. I can easily see why we were told not to miss a second as there was a quite a large attention to detail (the guy who appeared out side of the town who appeared in that picture in the presentation they showed James Cole wounded in World War 1 was the same guy preaching outside the church later in the film).

James Cole's slip into questioning his sanity was very well executed. We had a bit of a hint that he could go insane (the scientists said this is why they use criminals instead) and after that he begins to question what the present is. It's a question that appears surprisingly little in science fiction. If you are present in one time long enough but from another time does this new time because your 'present'? In fact is there even a present?

The other thing I liked was the ending. From the moment he gets that gun and the moment that strange guy who first appeared halfway through the movie is revealed as the carrier we realize that the entire time the scientists must have known this was going to happen. Why? They were in the air port as well, watching. Jose is given the gun to give to James but why couldn't Jose shoot the guy instead? The answer would have to be that the scientists always knew that James would end up dead and that they would make sure he would end up dead.

Now here's where it gets a little more interesting. By this point he has been pardoned of his crime and has no need to do anything for them. Worst case scenario they kill him. But once again why couldn't Jose kill the guy? Because James was supposed to die trying. He was supposed to be both dead and alive at the same time. None of this film was actually stopping the virus but making sure that what was supposed to happen happened properly. The scientists now know who releases the virus but will likely do nothing about it. It doesn't appear that you time travel with any clothes so the only way to carry a sample of the un mutated form is to ingest it which doesn't seem like a good idea. If anything the future is still grim with no signs of sunny weather coming any time soon and maybe that is why I loved the end to this movie. It told the story of James Cole, the man who died when he saw himself, and how we cannot change the future.

Signing out,

Mike Hand