A Surprise Goodie

Rating: 8/10 (6 March 2003)

I hated Tom Cruise, and wasn't a big fan of Spielberg either, but after this, I walked out of the theatre with a new respect for both. Not to say Cruise still isn't a not-so-great actor (and freakishly short, too), but now he's neutral in my books.
I went to this movie expecting an action-packed, mainstream, decent-plot-but-you-don't-really-have-to-follow-it movie. But somehow, Minority Report managed to become on of my favourite films, and the first DVD I owned as of Christmas '02 (I'm not quite rich).
The premise of Minority Report is creative, although simple and mainstream-friendly: police predict murders (JUST murders, oddly enough) and stop them before they happen, in a nutshell. But the story somehow becomes better than your average movie, twisting and turning and possibly losing you if you don't pay attention. Spielberg couldn't of directed this film any better. It has a gritty, dull-blue look, which, in addition to great direction, gave the movie a film-noir feel to it.
POSSIBLE SPOILER: One of very few flaws I noticed was how Danny Witwer (Colin Farrell) seems to make an abrupt attitude change when he figures out John was framed. His character goes from bad guy to concerned good guy a little quickly. I think this change should have either been more gradual- seeing hints of his humanity earlier on; or he should have been made out to be a little nicer throughout the whole film- give him the good ol' "Just following orders" motive.
This is one of those movies you'll watch again to see if you can catch the little hints it drops (ala The Sixth Sense). I highly recommend Minority Report - 8/10