Inevitably, it will be compared to Blade Runner

Rating: 9/10 (23 June 2002)

Minority Report was one tight movie which will be loved by SF fans the world over, but listening to people exiting, I couldn't help but wonder if this movie won't get the credit it deserves...
The plot of Minority Report is brilliant. I haven't read the original Philip K. Dick story it was based on, but movie adaptations of Dick's stories are usually better on the big screen than reading his depressing tales. Minority Report is no exception - it loops and weaves, mainly in the realms of predictability, but then the element of 'choice' steps in and the final 20 minutes are completely unpredictable.
That fact that most of the movie is predictable doesn't really detract from the strong story - it just leaves you more time to focus on little details that make up this film - like the product placement... Although most of the products probably will be around in 2054, some raised an eyebrow or two! I'd like the watch though! The technology being envisioned for 2054 is also really slick - we'll probably be 90% there or have completely blown past some of the technology on offer. Can't see the huge magnetic roads coming into play though - too much capital would have to be found...
It was a pleasant change to see Tom Cruise in a movie where it wasn't "Tom Cruise playing someone with a different name" I'm not leaping up here and saying he can act, but this would be the first Tom Cruise movie I've seen in a long time where I was able to forget that I was watching Tom Cruise and actually believe in Jon Anderton instead. A refreshing change!
The thing that really urked me the most in the film was Spielberg's decision to run the film through the computer and strip it of colour to create that 'moody' atmosphere. We don't live in a blue and yellow world and I doubt we will be in 2054 either! It took a film that could have easily sat on the pedastal next to Blade Runner and made it into a weaker second cousin. Honestly, the sooner film makers stop running film through computers and fiddling with colour, the better! Ridley Scott made Blade Runner in full technicolor without stripping it of any colour, and it is the darkest, moodiest, most atmospheric film every produced - and that was made 20 years ago!
I'd recommend Minority Report to anyone, but if its anything like Blade Runner, I'll end up in the cinema by myself seeing it again until its re-released in 10 years time (and it would be nice if Spielberg added back the colour for that version...) when it will have found a cult fan base and respect in the industry for the decent movie that it is!