Gorgeous, lightweight, predicable

Rating: 6/10 (16 March 2005)

Minority Report is the platinum blond of sf movies - it looks great but is ditzy at heart (no offense to blonds, I'm just looking for a cheap metaphor here). As with all Spielberg movies, it looks terrific. But, as with many of his movies, the story is formulaic. It dumbs down Dick's ideas to a by-the-numbers thriller. Admit it, after Max Von Sydow first appears (or you read the cast list), didn't you immediately guess the end of the movie?
After seeing the movie several times, the impact of the visuals gradually diminish - they're no Blade Runner - while the storyline falls limper than ever. For someone who is a genre director at heart, Spielberg really drops the ball here. Maybe if he'd limit himself to a first timer's budget (say $5 mil or so), his creative juices would start flowing again.