Good sci-fi action thriller.

Rating: 7/10 (5 June 2008)

Minority Report is set in 2054 nine years after the PreCrime program was implemented in Washington D.C., a pilot program in which mutant psychics known as PreCogs foresee murders & PreCrime officers arrest the future murderer on grounds of intent. There hasn't been a murder in Washington state for over six years & the program has a 100% success record. Chief John Anderton (Tom Cruise) runs the PreCrime unit but is shocked when the PreCogs predict he will kill a man named Leon Crow in less than a day, a man Anderton has never even met. The PreCogs have never been wrong so Anderton goes on the run in an attempt to discover who set him up, why, how & change his future...
Directed by Steven Spielberg & based on a short story by sci-fi author Philip K. Dick this dark & gritty big budget sci-fi action film can be considered amongst Spielberg's best, definitely not Spielberg's very best but not too far off it. The script by Jon Cohen & Scott Frank isn't typical Spielberg, there is a real edge to it with the leading hero a drug addict, a subplot involving child abduction & a vision of the not too distant future where murder can be predicted & those deemed responsible are put away for life without actually doing anything. The film makes the point that the future isn't set, that we choose our own destiny's & there's a strong anti technology message too. The film warns that technology is only as good & as reliable as those operating &/or controlling it, that there will always be human error or those who use the technology for their own advantage & that everything has at least one flaw. Minority Report is an intelligent sci-fi film with plenty of thoughtful themes, concepts, ideas & interesting parallels to the way our own society is going. The character's are good although Colin Farrell's FBI agent is almost totally wasted in a minor role. The mystery elements are good, the twists work well & make sense & there's a clever ending in which it is revealed how someone can commit a murder with the PreCrime system about. The future world in Minority Report seems very plausible, the story & plot are very good & the script has intelligence but if I was to criticise the film I would say that at well over two hours in length it's just too long.
The film looks wonderful throughout & the picture it paints of a future world is pretty convincing, from the constant bombardment of adverts which specifically target an individual to eye transplants to the way computers, cars & furniture looks. I would say a lot of time, effort & money was spent on the look of Minority Report & it show's, unfortunately while the sets, futuristic production design & props are superb Spielberg films everything in very muted sterile bland colours, everything has a pale blue, grey, white or black tone to it & I must admit it started to get on my nerves after a while. As I have already said Minority Report has a strong story but Spielberg also gives the audience some spectacular set-pieces including Anderton jumping from speeding car to speeding car, an exciting fight on a car assembly production line, a chase involving Anderton & some flying PreCrime cops to the visually stylish scene set in an apartment building where tiny mechanical spider go from room to room scanning the occupants eyes where Spielberg places his camera above the rooms & in one continuous shot pans across them looking down. The violence is fairly low, there are some fights & shoot-outs plus a couple of surgically removed eyeballs in a plastic bag.
With a budget exceeding $100,000,000 Minority Report looks fabulous as one would hope & expect, Spielberg know's how to turn in a great film & it show's here in an almost perfectly judged sci-fi action thriller that actually makes you think. The CGI computer effects are superb & some of the best out there, they actually add to the story as well as the look & the feel of the film. The acting is good, Cruise puts in a good performance (although I am not sure he was worth his reported $25,000,000+ salary) as does veteran actor Max von Sydow.
Minority Report is an excellent sci-fi thriller with plenty of spectacular action & a very absorbing & fairly intelligent script, add all that to a little Steven Spielberg magic & you have a great film. My only real problem with it is the length & once you have seen it & know the twists I am not sure how much replay value it has, I doubt I will want to see it again anytime soon.