SOURCE: A review of 12 Monkeys, in Sight and Sound, Vol. 6, No. 4, April, 1996, pp. 56–7.

In the following review, Strick describes 12 Monkeys as a confusing, muddled film that was inspired by, but is not as good as, Chris Marker's La Jetée.

Philadelphia, 2035. Sheltering underground from a virus that has killed most of the world’s population, a group of scientists sends randomly selected criminals to monitor conditions in the derelict city above. One such ‘volunteer’ is James Cole, a surly and violent convict haunted by the childhood memory of a man shot down in an airport corridor. Impressed by Cole’s toughness and powers of observation, the scientists decide he is a suitable candidate for their desperate project to trace the virus to its source. Following clues assembled since the first outbreak in 1996, they send Cole back in time to identify those claiming responsibility, a group called The Army...