21st Century Film Noir (Again)

Rating: 8/10 (27 June 2002)

This is a terrific bit of film making, but . . .
Given the rave reviews by critics and members of IMDB, you might be left with the impression that this is the best film Spielberg has made in a long, long time. I respectfully beg to differ.

Yes there is great cinematography (thanks Janusz Kaminski!), yes there is a brilliant little kernel of a plot premise (thanks Philip K. Dick!), yes there is a great cartoon chase scene filled with Spielberg humor, yes there are some Indiana Jones gross out scenes, yes there are fun performances aplenty and yes, it is way above what we have come to expect out of a summer movie. However, there are a lot of plot holes and movie coincidences that will nag at you for hours after the images have faded. OK, I know, willing suspension of belief and all that but still . . .
Also, haven't we seen most of this before? ("Blade Runner", "Chinatown", "Serpico", etc.) The difference between those movies and this one is that this one is filtered through an "Artificial Intelligence" trailer. In fact, AI is a much more compelling film. Though AI is a rehash of the Pinnochio story, it is a fresh take on a universal fable; much of "Minority Report" is just a rehash. ("Minority Report" does have better action scenes.)
This IS a good film, just not "Saving Private Ryan", "Indiana Jones", or "Artificial Intelligence." Go see it. Enjoy. Just don't believe all the hype.