12 Monkeys is a sci-fi mystery drama show based on the 1995 movie of the same name, with the film starring Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt and directed by none other than Terry Gilliam. I was a massive fan of 12 Monkeys growing up, especially the ending of the film which I won't spoil for those who haven't seen it, but it was my first inter-connected time travel film (I think). It's a sci-fi trope which, when done well, I always enjoy.
In the show, the main character of James Cole is played by Aaron Stamford, and although he plays the role very differently to Mr Willis, he definitely makes it his own. The story isn't that heavily based on the original film with it having a different source material, but a lot more care has been taken to really carve out this wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey universe. Cole teams up with Dr. Cassandra "Cassie" Railly, played by Amanda Schull, to try to defeat the enigmatic doomsday cult of The Army of the 12 Monkeys. Brad Pitt's character is gender-swapped and is now Jennifer Goines, played by Emily Harrison, but I think I prefer the tv show's version. Not that Pitt isn't amazing in the film, but I find female Goines to be far more believable. She's a very convincing crazy.
12 Monkeys the show began life as a tv spec script called "Splinter", and after it landed on a desk at Atlas Entertainment, who owned the rights to the movie and had been wanting to make a tv spin-off, it was soon worked into the TV reboot. Critical responses to the show ranged from mixed to positive, although it's worth noting that Terry Gilliam didn't approve of the new take on 12 Monkeys, saying:
“I know nothing about that. That's just ridiculous. It doesn't have anything to do with me and no-one has contacted me. It's a very dumb idea. That's what I think. If it was going to be any good it would have to be written by David and Janet Peoples, who wrote the film, otherwise it would just be another version of Time Bandits.”
As usual, I don't want to spoil anything for those who haven't seen this show yet, but I strongly recommend you give it a go if you're a fan of the 1995 movie, or just time-travel plots in general. I was pleasantly surprised today to find out that the fourth season has already begun airing, and here I was thinking season 3 was the last. This gives you some time to catch up before the season finale in a couple of months time. You can watch 12 Monkeys on the SyFy channel, although I'm not sure which online services will have it.
Have you seen the 12 Monkeys tv show? Or, were you a fan of the 1995 movie? Let me know your thoughts and feelings down below, and I'll see you in the comments. As always, make sure to follow me for the latest Technology, Internet and Pop Culture updates and if you're a fan of strange/interesting YouTube videos, you might want to follow me on Twitter.
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Sources:
12 Monkeys on Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_Monkeys_(TV_series))
Image from Next Episode (https://next-episode.net/12-monkeys)