Minority Report card: I give it a big A

Rating: Null/10 (10 July 2002)

This must be SS's apology for A.I. He seems back in his game again with Minority Report. I found this movie very entertaining. It was fast paced and had a great cast and great special effects. But that was not the bulk of the movie. The great story is what really made this movie work. There are some great CGI scenes but they are needed to carry the story along. They are not gratuitous like in The Mummy Returns. Most of the special effects are scenes that were seen in the trailers. I especially liked how the futuristic gadgets were handled  as if they are part of everyday life: like the internet is to us today.
The acting here was very good. As I've said before, I am not a big Tom Cruise fan. I think that may be changing. He has been scoring points with me ever since Jerry Maguire. I think he does a really good job here under Mr. Spielberg's direction. I will ask though, if, Mr. Cruise feels like he's being typecast as the man in the mask'? If you look at his last few roles, he's been playing a face-dancer for the majority of them: Eyes Wide Shut  he's in a mask for almost a ¼ of the movie, both MI's and a third one on the way will surely have him changing face again. Vanilla Sky had him in a mask or some prosthetic make-up for half the movie or morebut I digress. Suffice to say he worked well in this role. I should also mention Colin Farrell as Detective Ed Witwer: He did a superb job as far as I'm concerned. He really made you hate that character (I think the gum chewing helped it that respect). Samantha Morton was great and Max was, as always, Max.
I usually don't outline the plot of movies on here and I'm still not going to, I think you get the gist by now. I will say that the plot is a little predictable in places, but the story is still very engaging. I've read a few reviews that mentioned a bleak, dark and even 'Godless'(?), soulless world that was created with MR. I say: If you've read anything at all about this movie, you should know by now that it is based on a short story by Phillip K. Dick. This is the same man who wrote the books that were the basis for Bladerunner and Total Recall. What kind of world did you expect here? If you've read or have seen either of the two afore mentioned titles then you should know he doesn't create a bright shining vision of the future. However, Mr. Spielberg seems to lighten it up a bit. There are parts where you can totally feel Mr. Spielberg's presence but surprisingly (and refreshingly) there are many instances were you totally forget that you are watching a SS movie (I can only guess that's because he didn't write it). So, perhaps some people should do a little research before seeing a movie, especially individuals who have access to the abundance of information as on this very website. Then, maybe, they wouldn't expect so much. Jeez, it is only a movie after all.
All in all I found this movie very enjoyable and worth every penny spent to see it. I feel really good about Mr. Spielberg's directing abilities again. He had me a little worried there for a while. That's my take. What's yours?