by Graham Osborne
We truly are in an era of adaptations. The Marvel Cinematic has set up the dominoes and given us a grand total of at least 30 films featuring all of our favourite superheroes between now and 2020. At the same time, Hannibal and Fargo are taking their silver screen hits and condensing them down into weekly serials that manage to capture the spirit of the original, whilst telling a different story and (in the case of Fargo) bringing in all new characters. 12 Monkeys follows on in the same vein, as we are shown a new version of Terry Gilliam’s 1995 time-travelling epic.
We truly are in an era of adaptations. The Marvel Cinematic has set up the dominoes and given us a grand total of at least 30 films featuring all of our favourite superheroes between now and 2020. At the same time, Hannibal and Fargo are taking their silver screen hits and condensing them down into weekly serials that manage to capture the spirit of the original, whilst telling a different story and (in the case of Fargo) bringing in all new characters. 12 Monkeys follows on in the same vein, as we are shown a new version of Terry Gilliam’s 1995 time-travelling epic.
The initial premise of the show is the same as the film. A plague was released that decimated the world’s population, and forced the surviving humans to live underground. Eventually, the survivors discover clues as to who started the plague and devise a way to stop it by travelling back through time and preventing the virus from being released. The person conscripted to time travel is Cole, played by Aaron Stanford. Back in 2015, he tracks down Dr Cassandra Railly (Amanda Schull) and begins his hunt for the creator of the virus.
The show is well paced, with a decent balance between action and story. However, whilst the action scenes are well choreographed, the writing appears somewhat slapdash, with some of the scenes feeling corny instead of emotional or tense. Some of the dialogue also seems to rely a little too much on direct exposition that doesn’t quite fit the tone of the scene, it’s nowhere near as forced and clunky as the introduction of Edward Nigma in Gotham, but you can almost feel the actors looking at the camera and winking as they say their lines.
The show is well paced, with a decent balance between action and story. However, whilst the action scenes are well choreographed, the writing appears somewhat slapdash, with some of the scenes feeling corny instead of emotional or tense. Some of the dialogue also seems to rely a little too much on direct exposition that doesn’t quite fit the tone of the scene, it’s nowhere near as forced and clunky as the introduction of Edward Nigma in Gotham, but you can almost feel the actors looking at the camera and winking as they say their lines.
Episode One (Splintered) spent most of its time set during 2015, as Cole and Railly tracked down the head of the company responsible for the plague. There is the occasional flashback (flashforward?) to Cole’s original time and looking at the survivors’ reasons for sending him back, as well as showing various shots of the “post-apocalyptic” wasteland. Whilst the series and film contain many similarities, the final scene of the episode shows the series spreading its wings, and starting to shake off its source material. This development continues in the second episode, as mysterious murderers begin making their rounds, and the titular Army of the Twelve Monkeys starts to sound more and more like a conspiracy theory. There is also a nice reference to the psychiatric hospital where Bruce Willis’ version of Cole was incarcerated during the film.
12 Monkeys currently shows plenty of potential. It’s not always engaging, with the dialogue and exposition creating a little too much dissonance to sit comfortably with each other, but there is enough entertainment and energy to keep the plot rolling along. The show has a solid base to build on, let’s hope that it can keep going.
12 Monkeys currently shows plenty of potential. It’s not always engaging, with the dialogue and exposition creating a little too much dissonance to sit comfortably with each other, but there is enough entertainment and energy to keep the plot rolling along. The show has a solid base to build on, let’s hope that it can keep going.
What Do You Think?
Did you enjoy the first two episodes of 12 Monkeys?
Are you annoyed at the film being remade?
Let us know in the comments!
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