of burgers and jet-packs (contains spoilers)

Rating: 1/10 (20 August 2002)

i can understand why this movie got lots of great reviews. it has many wonderful elements. i figured out early on that crow had taken/killed anderton's son. i was *tremendously* relieved, and surprised, that it was a plot twist and not the real story. big-budget hollywood has become so god-awful predictable and stupid that i was gratified when it wasn't entirely so.
that said. this movie is full of story problems, bad acting, and inappropriate editing. i cannot believe the same man that made "schindler's list" also made "minority report," "the goonies," and "hook."
spielberg seems to have a talent for getting the worst possible performances out of actors. some of the acting in this movie was so bad or uneven it was stunning. i just looked up lois smith (dr. hineman) b/c she was particularly heinous. of course! she's a veteran soap/tv actor.
multiple problems include:
* witwer's one-scene complete 180 degree character flip from pompus, unskilled, unethical, careless idiot to expert, insightful detective.
* anderton's eyes broadcast his presence until they are out of his head. then they suddenly become untraceable skeleton keys using the security clearance of someone who is no longer a cop. and his unrefrigerated retinas don't seem to ever decompose.
* the bizarre and meaningless "eye-doctor/nurse" soliloquy/monologue. he has no possible reason to help anderton (who has underpaid for the service and should be an object of vengeance) unless it's the implied: he's grateful for being turned on to prison sex. lame!
* the completely unforgivable jet-pack burger scene. while anderton escapes by crashing through an apartment building riding a cop and his jet-pack we are treated to a close-up of the jet-pack cooking the burgers on the stove while the tenant screams Shoo like they were bats or something. man!
expletives could not convey my disdain. slapstick? in the middle of a "serious" film? unconnected to any other part of the film (with the possible exception of the nearly as challenged chase-the-eyeballs-down-the-ramp-scene)?
i beg you, do not reward this thing or its creators any more than we already have by buying tickets. do not buy this on video and do not recommend it.