One word: Overrated

Rating: 5/10 (24 June 2002)

Minority Report is nothing more than an average, cliched whodunit, spruced up to take place in an semi-Orwellian Washington DC of 2052. The movie is exceptional only in it's vision of the future. Everything else is simply pedestrian, which you don't expect from Spielberg, which makes the movie that much more disapointing.
We all know the story, so I won't get into it. I'll just comment on the problems. The biggest are the massive plot holes that exist throughout the movie. They are massive, and crucial to the plot, which is why the film cannot survive them. One would think that Spielberg would have done something to cover them up, but they are in plain view for anyone to see.
Secondly, for a movie that is supposedly about big ideas, such as surveliance and privacy, surprisingly little is said about them. They are mentioned, then glossed over. What is shockingly absent is an explination for the way the future criminals that Cruise and his team catch are incarcerated. Are they like the way they are forever, or what? That would make for an interesting debate, but it is never brought up.
Finally, the ending is to typically Spielberg that it makes the movie even less relevant than it has become. No big quesions (privacy wise)are answered, everything gets wrapped up in a neat little bow, and the movie just ends. Again, like in AI, Spielberg can't commit to a dark ending like his biggest influence as of late, Stanley Kubrick.
The acting is fine, but the characters are one-dimensional, with the exception of Samantha Morton's Agatha, a Pre-cog. The future vision is interesting, and a discussion about this future world compared to ours would be welcome. However, this movie has no discussion. It is a simple film, which is a shame. Perhaps a more daring director than Spielberg should have been chosen. He takes no risks here, and the film suffers. For future visions, I'll stick with Blade Runner and 2001.