Watching Minority Report is like having a precognition yourself; that of the future.

Rating: 9/10 (13 October 2010)

9.3
Leave it to the great minds to imagine the future. Leave it to the scientists to create the future. Leave it to the people to inhabit the future, and thus shape its cultures, its niches, and its memes. Minority Report is a film based on the Phillip K. Dick story by the same name. It takes place in 2054, and there is a division of police officers called Precrime who utilize special humans who have the foresight of future murders. The murders are stopped before they can occur, and thus there are no more murders being carried out. Minority Report takes place in a world very similar to ours, but much more technologically advanced.
Everything from traffic that is operated without the need for human interference, advertisements that cater to your ears and use your name, and retinal recognition everywhere that we go. We also see advanced user interfaces and hologram projections. One thing that Minority Report does is that it peers into the future, but not too far. It is still grounded in our world, these are things that we can see in development right now. Google is currently working on cars that drive themselves. Microsoft, at the time of this writing, is about to release Kinect, a user interface that is similar to the one used by the Precrime officers. The vision of the movie and how it is carried out is stunning. It is a visual treat, and that of one for the imagination as well.
The film itself is not amateurish in any sense, either. Steven Spielberg sits in the director's chair, but not in a lazy fashion. We see here the work of a man who knows what he's doing, and has known what he's doing for a long time now. The film has an interesting look, where everything is shiny and very, very bright. Sometimes the reflection of light on the lens is so strong, the light drowns the scene. This might turn some people off, but I think it gives the movie an interesting look. The entire thing feels like a dream sequence. Spielberg displays his mastery of translating emotion onto film and speakers, with some scenes that will have you choking as you try to swallow them. There is a scene in the movie that is of my favorite scenes in film. The protagonist stands while a female character puts her head on his shoulder. They are both conversing, and you can only see both of their heads in the shot. The lighting is perfect, and you can tell that a lot of thought was put into this shot. Thank you, God, for art. Thank you, mankind, for cinema.
The performances in Minority Report are also very good. Tom Cruise is a good actor, and delivers all of these scenes with conviction. Most of the other actors keep up with him, some delivering as fine of a performance. The music is done by John Williams. Mr. Williams has worked with Spielberg many times before, and his music is pretty recognizable. However, I heard many things here that I don't think I've heard before in a John Williams score. The story is loosely based on the novel, and its twists, turns and conclusion will have you invested and entertained all throughout the film. The film does inspire emotion, even if it is shock, and you might feel yourself a bit drained of emotion by the end of it. This is, of course, the sign of a good film. But just because you can play an instrument beautifully doesn't mean that you should fill the air with constant notes, the audience will become tired of it.
I've said it before: it's easy to nitpick a great piece of art. Just as easy as it is to write about bad art. Minority Report is a great film. It's not done by amateurs in any sense of the word, and the reference material (although I haven't read it myself) is very good. Some will be turned off by the sci-fi feel and the plasticky, metal, electronic look. But those who are into science fiction are in for a real treat, because besides delivering a solid and original science fiction movie, it's also a successful movie in terms of execution of assets and inspiration of emotion. Watching Minority Report is like having a precognition yourself; that of the future.