A little annoying, but really interesting story and theme.

Rating: 7/10 (26 March 2016)

I'm a little surprised that this doesn't get more criticism because of the plot holes, but I guess that proves how good of a social commentary it is. Preventing crimes before they happen is protective beyond measure, but it infringes on some concepts of freedom and destiny. Also, and I don't think this was ever stated explicitly, it presupposes that the perpetrator is doing the wrong thing, whereas their crime might be something they feel morally obligated to do. In the opening scene for instance, the guy who is arrested doesn't murder his wife and her lover, but he also isn't given the justice of confronting his wife. Coupled with this is the fact that the system does nothing from about the guy's wife cheating on him.
I thought the script was really well paced, especially in how efficiently it showed us how pre-crime worked and exactly what was implied by the subsequent accusation of John Anderton. Also, every action scene had a legitimate purpose and was fully called for, which definitely cannot be said for every action film. However, I had a lot of problems with how the characters were written. Anderton had pretty much no personality, which isn't surprising given that Spielberg is directing. The supporting roles like Lara, Danny Witwer, Fletcher, Agatha, and Lamar were decent all around, but the minor characters showed some issues. All of them were distinct, but they were all annoying too. In some cases this wouldn't be an issue, but since there were a lot of minor characters, it was a detractor.
The story shows how the system could be corrupted, and I think the theme was really consistent with that in all of the different pre crime scenarios. It can be a little hard to follow some of the technical rules of the system and how they relate to the theme, but it's worth it to go back and find out. The plot is really good in an antagonist sense, because your loyalties change around a lot throughout, though you're never meant to be against John Anderton. It also plays around a lot with fate vs. free will since the crimes will apparently happen if pre crime doesn't stop them. It seems odd, almost to the point of being a plot hole, that the pre cogs do not see the police preventing crimes. Also, the perpetrators seem unaware that their actions will be prevented, which is some decent food for thought.
The acting is pretty flat from everyone, and Spielberg does a standard job directing. I know people rave about him, but I honestly don't think he's that great. John William's score feels like it was carbon copied from some of his other work from the seventies. The action choreography is okay, but not at all spectacular. Fortunately the movie doesn't have to hinge on good action, so this is not really a problem.
If you want a good theme and an interesting story, this will deliver. It might not be outstanding in entertainment, and has some potentially annoying comic relief. I would set aside a couple of nights to watch it since it's fairly long. It might be good to watch it with someone else to bounce questions and thoughts off of since you might not fully grasp everything. If you're renting it, I would recommend getting it electronically, because I rented it on DVD and I think there were a couple things I missed in the scratched sections. Overall Rating: 7.8/10.