Those Who Do Not Find Spielberg's Dystopian Universe Hypnotic, Are Surely in the 'Minority'!

Rating: 9/10 (11 October 2015)

The year is 2054 and Washington DC is the host of a nervy experiment in crime prevention. Deep in the Pre-Crime agency lie the 'pre-cogs' - three psychics who dangle in liquid suspension, sharing their incriminating visions with the police. Devised by retired law enforcement officer Lamar Burgess (a brilliant Max von Sydow), the system uses the talents of these pre-cogs with exceptional psychic abilities who are kept in a constant state of dream sleep by a combination of mind-numbing drugs, partial immersion in a huge sensory-deprivation tank, and electronic 'halos' attached to their heads. Using the fragmented images seen by them, which are projected onto a screen, the agency is able to predict and prevent every murder that is about to happen in the city, deftly stepping in and arresting the suspect before the crime has even been committed, to let him rot in a suspended-animation prison. With no homicides in six years, it's a flawless system headed by a perfect guardian, Chief John Anderton (a riveting act by Tom Cruise). Motored by the death of his son, his Pavlovian impulse is to slam the lid on any homicide before it happens. A nifty prologue shows the system's ruthless efficiency, but the arrival of a rival detective Danny Witwer (Colin Farrell, all growl and snap) sets into motion an unbreakable chain of events that sees Anderton on the run from the very system he championed. Pre-cog Agatha (Samantha Morton, in an alternately touching and haunting performance) has marked him for murder and there's just 36 hours before his date with his secret victim. It's a set-up all right. But who's pulling the strings?
From the description alone, Minority Report may appear to be wholly outrageous and borderline unbelievable. This being a work based on a story by Philip K Dick, wacko embellishments are a given, and with its singing cereal packets, vertical freeways, virtual shopkeepers and simulated reality parlors that make your wildest wish come true, Minority Report's world - a surreal cityscape of opulent chromes and 1940s grub - makes for an extraordinary spectacle, made all the creepier by a parched and seedy color palette. If the universe is fully immersive, so is the plot thanks to a screenplay which is hardboiled but never scrambled and the dialogue which is sour and smart-mouthed.
But above all, Minority Report works because of its director Steven Spielberg, who deftly juggles an intricate plot. The storyline allows him ample room to accent and detail - and no one is better at building a fictional reality than Mr. Blockbuster. Although this film is nearly three hours long, it is constantly exhilarating, either from the standpoint of its futuristic vision or its tense plot line. Spielberg packs the frame with reminders of humanity trudging along despite the bleakness of its surroundings, delivering a product which is well-rendered, technically and emotionally, as the subtler moments resonate with real sentiment and insight.
Minority Report is not just some fairy tale gussied up with hi-tech cars and cool costumes and called science-fiction. It is a science-fiction story that actually dares to be 'Science'- 'Fiction' – a gripping whodunit and a murky future-noir with style to spare!