Don't do it!

Rating: 3/10 (16 July 2002)

This movie is terrible that I am profoundly disgusted. Certainly my expectations were too high because I was fully expecting to love it. I was unprepared for something this bad. I suppose you want details. OK, well, the opening scene shows a group of clairvoyants predicting a murder. As soon as the machine they're plugged into detects this prediction it doesn't just send a computer message; instead it carves a ball from a block of wood and engraves the name of the victim on it, and another ball with the name of the murderer. One ball then rolls down a spiral tube in one direction, and the other ball spirals down another tube in the other direction. Someone then explains that it's important for the machine to do this because something about the grain of the wood makes it impossible to counterfeit. Does that make any sense to you? It sure didn't to me.
Then there's the entirely gratuitous giant virtual reality setup that the Tom Cruse character uses to understand the details of each murder. Lots of expensive computer graphics are likewise complete wastes of resources. Likewise for the chase scenes and love interests, but at least that's nothing unusual.
So how did it happen that so much money was spent to make such a lousy movie? I can answer that in two words: "Product Placements". The movie seemed to include at least a dozen prominent placements for products such as Lexus, The Gap, and Revo sunglasses. This is nothing like the placements we commonly see where you're never 100% sure it was paid for by the company who's logo or product is shown. This movie hits you over the head with each one.
Part of the reason I was expecting to like the movie is because Ebert & Roper raved about it. They never even mentioned how this movie takes product placements to new heights. I now trust him less.
Finally, Steven Spielberg has tended to make better and better movies, so I'm equally disappointed with him. _Shrek_ and _Artificial Intelligence_ were brilliant. I can only guess that he's either hard up for cash or gone off the rails.
If this were just a normal summer blockbuster I wouldn't have commented on it, but this one is so bad that I have to call out the IMDb voters that pushed it into the best 250 movies of all time! (Now it's down to 7.7 in 2011. BTW, I don't think that IMDb should list movies in the top 250 until at least a year after their release.0
If you haven't seen it yet, don't bother.