Splendid Visuals, Perplexing Story

Rating: Null/10 (12 December 2004)

"Minority Report" features the typical science fiction innovation of over-the-top technology circa Steven Spielberg's vision of 2050 America: jumping scanners, perilous highway sectors, flying and tracking robots, booster rockets, and of course, advanced PreCrime technology that enables police officers to thwart homicides before they even occur and apprehend the suspect from committing the crime ever again. This system has been proved effective (not a single murder has occurred in the greater Washington D.C. area in several years), yet just when PreCrime is about to expand its divisions nationally, something horrible and seemingly irrevocable occurs: its chief official, John Anderton (Tom Cruise) is prognosticated to be the perpetrator of the murder of a complete stranger, Leo Crow, within 24 hours. Having recently lost his son to abduction, currently depressed with drugs and sobbing away at the memory of his "happy family", this recent development succeeds in devastating and enraging John Anderton. Thus ensues a ruthless chase by the system to apprehend a "certain, yet confused" suspect. John of course is bemused and frightened at this indictment of murder, and will stop at virtually nothing, dodging his former "allies against crime", altering parts of his body to elude security detectors, and abducting a primal "precog" (humans programmed to mind censors in pools to prognosticate murders) Agatha (Samantha Morton) to escape his captors and discover the truth behind his indictment in this mysterious and baffling murder. Rife with fascinating "who dunnit" scenarios, classic chase sequences, and plot contortions galore, yet featuring a perplexing and somewhat unresolved conclusion, "Minority Report" is an exceptional, if perplexing, piece of science fiction suspense that is entertaining, inquisitive, deceiving and wildly provocative. Spielberg's direction is remarkably stirring and subtle, and is orchestrated without much of his signature regard to sentimentality, but rather, criminality. Tom Cruise is attractive and menacing as John Anderton, as an innocent, yet perturbed fugitive on the lam sorting the pieces of PreCrime together. Colin Ferrell is sharp and engaging as the "villain" Witwer seeking to steal Anderton's position and capture him with malice and eagerness. "Minority Report" is an enjoyable and fascinating, if perplexing and disjointed, science fiction thriller that is entertaining through and through and a genuine thinking man's futuristic whodunnit. *** out of ****