Minority Report (2001)
Posted by Heather on April 30, 2008
Directed by: Steven Spielburg
Written by: Scott Frank
It’s the year 2054 and the world has changed drastically. Crime is virtually non-existent due to the new law enforcement team called ”PreCrime”. PreCrime was born through the discovery of three humans who when joined together had the ability to foresee the future. They refer to these three as “Pre Cogs” for their precognitive abilities. John Anderton (Tom Cruise) is the head officer of PreCrime and has believed in the system being unfalable, until one day the Pre-Cogs predict Anderton committing the murder of a victim he has never met before. In an attempt to cover his tracks and discover the truth behind the mystery Anderton uncovers way more than he bargained for. As it turns out the Pre Cogs are no always 100% in their predictions. Agatha, the one Pre Cog, sometimes shows a different future from the one the other two see. This has been covered by PreCrimes creator as a Minority Report and ignored. Now Anderton is not only a murder suspect, but involved in a conspiracy against the worlds law enforcement agency. And everyone is after him.
This film received a lot of bashing, both critically and from fans, but I largely disagree. I think this was one of Spielburg’s better recent films, and definitely one of my favorite Cruise roles. The combination of thriller and science fiction of this movie reaches the highest extremes in each direction, meshing together one of the more interesting and complicated Sci-Fi movies of the last ten years. Spielburg didn’t just throw together a bunch of cool FX and explosions with a dainty script and hope this film would work. The time was taken to develop not only the character’s and give them palpable motivations, but the back story of PreCrime and the entire futuristic world was extremely fleshed out. It was a believable and extraordinary future.
Tom Cruise plays John Anderton with his usual finesse and complete commitment. Anderton is the star officer at Precrime, but with his own vigilance he knows he wouldn’t kill someone. The history of his past and his own family works as a driving force and Cruise exemplifies the conflict of interests that Anderton has going against the system he once believed so completely in while simultaneously battling his own personal demons. He crosses every extreme of physical and mental challenge a person could imagine, and Cruise presents it flawlessly.
The visuals of the futuristic setting is extremely compelling. There is this wild world of new found technology mixed with the past so it makes it seem tangible to the viewer. The world is ever changing, yet some things remain the same. From the technology used to translate what the Pre-Cogs see, to the covert ops that are hunting Anderton and all of the gadgets he uses to avoid capture, this film stands aside from many in it’s genre. It’s original and fascinating.
One thing lost in this film is how well the information is actually being conveyed. A lot of the general audiences had trouble following all the plot twists and turns and it’s reasonable to see how. Already being in a fictional futuristic world the viewer must adapt to those changes, while also taking in the main characters, while also trying to decipher a twisted plot that basically contradicts everything it explained to you in the first thirty minutes. It is a bit confusing at times, but I think it also inspires a second viewing, just to catch anything you may have missed in the initial viewing.
Minority Report is a completely original movie with a swift moving intelligent plot that carries a complexity you don’t see often today. With a stellar cast, and outstanding CGI, and a brilliant script that really questions the boundaries of morality and science this movie is one of a kind. Without a doubt Minority Report is one of the most engaging Science Fiction films in the last ten years. Three and Half out of Four Stars.
