The future is bright

Rating: 10/10 (22 November 2004)

Spoilers herein
When Steven Spielberg, arguably the most influential director in film history tries his hand at sci-fi with Tom Cruise at the helm, you know something good is underway. This is indeed the case with Minority Report, with Steven Spielberg returning back to the future after 2001's A.I. The story takes place in the year 2054, with a new police department called 'pre-crime' which harnesses the powers of three psychics known as 'pre-cogs' to predict and stop future crimes before they occur. The system is supposed to be flawless, until officer John Anderton (Tom Cruise) is accused of murdering a man he has never met or heard of in less than 36 hours. To prove his innocence, Anderton kidnaps Agatha (Samantha Morton) the most gifted of the pre-cogs to delve into her mind to see whether he will actually commit the murder, or whether he's been set up, presumably by FBI agent Danny Witwer (Colin Farrell) who openly wants Anderton's job.
Although primarily a science fiction tale, (based on a short story by author Philip K. Dick, who also penned 'Paycheck' and 'Blade Runner') Minority Report ends up as more of a film noire, with hidden clues being hinted at, but concealed from the audience until the last second, as Anderton races to prove his innocence, and discover his presumed saboteur. The noire element blends wonderfully with the science fiction portion of the story, ending up with a genuinely compelling and original tale of futuristic intrigue.
Similarly to A.I., in the year 2054 in Minority Report the future is bright, with everything from cars to buildings appearing silver, streamlined and very visually slick. The colour use is worth mentioning, with all colours dulled to virtually shades of white and black, perhaps to give a retro feel to a futuristic movie? Whatever the intention, the colours work quite well, and always add to and never interfere with the rest of the film. But it's Spielberg's envisioning of what future advertising and marketing will be like that makes the film so compelling all stores in malls have eye scanners, so models representing the store can talk to each person individually. Giving the general inconsideration for the public's privacy that modern advertising displays, in the future, this is an entirely possible outcome, heaven forbid.
Spielberg also brings his own quirky sense of humour into play here, as demonstrated with scenes such as Anderton falling through a window, and landing next to a circle of contortionists doing their warm up exercises, and the Swedish eye doctor making duck noises periodically. There's not really any reason for including these bits, but they do add to the bizarre intrigue of the film rather well, surprisingly enough.
The cast perform exceptionally, whether together or individually. Tom Cruise is spellbinding and surprisingly passionate as John Anderton, police officer on the run. This could have been transformed into a standard M:I2 style action performance, but Cruise is far too vulnerable and sensitive for this to be the case, emitting shocking emotion when reflecting on the kidnapping of his son. (the reason he became a police officer - pre-crime could have prevented his son's abduction)
Max Von Sydow is spectacular as Anderton's compassionate yet mysterious boss Lamar Burgess, underplaying the part to perfect effect, to create genuine audience confusion. We never know exactly where the guy is coming from, and he keeps us guessing until the end, where he is eventually revealed to be a desperate man, willing to resort to murder to maintain his enterprise.
Colin Farrell's Danny Witwer is also a cryptic character whose position is essentially the opposite of Burgess - originally you perceive him as the villain, framing Anderton for a murder in order to incapacitate him and seize his job, but in the end he is a good man with respectable morals, who just happened to take a dislike to Anderton. But just when we realize that he is in fact trying to clear Anderton from his premature accusation, Witwer is shot by Burgess for uncovering too much evidence. Farrell has great chemistry with the other cast members, and covers up his Irish accent beautifully.
But perhaps the real star of the show is Samantha Morton as Agatha, the pre cog abducted by Anderton. She is so convincing as a being who is not quite human, yet feels many human emotions which she can't quite come to terms with that you begin to feel really creeped out with the knowledge that she is, in fact, a real person, merely playing a role. A perfect definition of an actor totally inhabiting a role, Morton never fails to astonish us with her stunning characterization.
Of course, John William's exceptional scores never fail to complement Spielberg's work, and Minority Report is no exception - William's beautifully moving score perfectly adds to the mysterious tone of the movie. And with Spielberg at the helm, with an exceptional cast and the creative urge to do something refreshingly different, Minority Report could never really be anything but a huge success. Which, of course, it is.
-10/10