Disappointing

Rating: Null/10 (9 July 2002)

The movie was disappointing. The idea of the pre-cogs, the way they barely can talk, their otherwordliness and their special knowledge remind me of jungle movies: "bwana not go there, me know jungle, bad there for bwana".
The real failure of the movie is failure of nerve. The very real issues of incarcerating people before they commit murder are never pursued and the story turns into a lame crime plot. By 2054, what happened to Constitutional protections? What happened to trials by jury (it is never explored how the pre-murderers are "convicted"? What happened to search warrants (consider the spiders)? With some exceptions, murder is a local crime: On what legal basis does the Attorney General expand precrime to the rest of the nation? How do people in the world of 2054, other than the very limited cast which consists mostly of police, feel about pre-crime? Why is all key dialog about pre-crime so confused and inconsistent?
The subject could be fascinating, but Spielberg is gutless and cannot let his story lead him to real meat.