Can you see?

Rating: 8/10 (21 June 2002)

Minority Report is a welcome departure from the fluff that defines most summer movies. I should expect no less from Spielberg, who directs this adaptation of the Philip K. Dick short story. The film is set 52 years in the future, when murders (in Washington D.C. anyway) are a thing of the past. Cruise plays a cop in the Orwellian pre-crime unit who, through the use of three 'oracles', prevent potential murders from taking place. However, when the system is turned on him, he runs in pursuit of the truth. His odyssey changes his perception of pre-crime and all that comes with it, giving him new vision along the way.
Tom Cruise gives another solid performance (as he did in Vanilla Sky and Eyes Wide Shut) and Colin Farrell was adequate in the detective role. The film certainly has a unique visual style, sleekly futuristic but not overly rich in color (as was Soderbergh's D.C. in Traffic). John Williams' score for the film was his usual, though at points I wanted to yell out that this wasn't Jurassic Park or an Indiana Jones' movie. A couple spots in this film were (in my opinion) rather predictable, and it wasn't due to the heavy marketing campaign for the film. Also, I couldn't help but feel that the ending was a little too upbeat with very few loose ends. Why let the audience have imagination when you can narrate it away?

Despite these shortcomings, I have to say that I believe this film to be the most complete film of the summer (so far) and is worth the trip to the cinema to see.