Maybe the best of 2002

Rating: 8/10 (16 May 2007)

Minority Report was creative genius. I saw the movie in theater back in '02 and I was thoroughly pleased. I thought that Minority Report was one of, if not the best movie of '02. It was a spectacular blend of Sci-Fi, cutting edge technology, and crime mystery. This was definitely one of those movies that cause you to think and have you replaying every minute fact in your head to see what was the key to it all. Even to this day I continue to think, "How did John Anderton (Tom Cruise) get into the position of being wanted for murder?" Hear my stance if it makes sense and then you will see the crux of my dilemma.
The three oracles can see murders that happen in the future and they can see a premeditated murder up to 36 hours in advance. Now, they saw John Anderton committing a premeditated murder, hence the prediction ball with John's name on it dropped. John was the first to see the ball, and as a result he fled the precinct and began his quest to find the person he was supposed to kill.
I think this is a classic case of the chicken or the egg theory. I say that John doesn't even get put into the position of killing if it weren't for the prognostication. The vision set the ball into motion (both figuratively and literally). The prophecy caused John to seek out the potential victim in order for him to clear his name, which means the vision played an active role in the murder not a passive one. Unless, the vision was of what would have happened even if there existed no oracles. Meaning that John would have found and killed the contracted victim without the helpful guidance of the three oracles.
In that case the person to be John's victim most likely would have had to seek John out, or make himself painfully obvious as the person who kidnapped John's son in order for John to kill him. But, the whole set up never looked like the contracted victim was ever going to seek John out, but rather just ostentatiously have his prolific pedophile profile spread out for John to see once John found him. Do you follow me at all?
Still, this movie was excellent even if this one crucial concept continues to boggle my mind.