Minority Report

Rating: 7/10 (12 September 2005)

Director Steven Spielberg (Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan) returned to his science-fiction routes with A.I. Artificial Intelligence, and this one followed a year later, and it also followed the darker feel brought from his war films. Set in the year 2054, the crime in Washington D.C. has been virtually eliminated (by 90%) with the help of the squad "Precrime", using three genetically altered humans known as "Precogs" with powers to see into the future and predict crimes before they happen. Unfortunately for Precrime head Chief John Anderton (Tom Cruise), he is seen to be committing a murder, and he is now on the run trying both to escape identification and capture, and prove his innocence, as he does no know the future victim. He decides that he will need help from the key "Precog" Agatha (Samantha Morton), especially for his "minority report", i.e. what happens to him after the murder, so he kidnaps her. She knows quite a lot about future events, and when John finally gets to the man he is meant to murder, it becomes apparent that he may actually have a reason to. After he has sealed his future, John decides to trace the start of the "Precrime" program, and that means exposing Director Lamar Burgess (Max Von Sydow) for how it actually came to be, and in the end saving both himself and the "Precogs". Also starring Colin Farrell as Danny Witwer, Lois Smith as Dr. Iris Hineman, Peter Stormare as Dr. Solomon Eddie, Tim Blake Nelson as Gideon, Steve Harris as Jad, Kathryn Morris as Lara Clarke and Mike Binder as Leo Crow. Cruise is quite a good lead, but I think it is mainly the quite engaging story and fantastic special effects that make this more than just mystery thriller. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Sound Editing, and it was nominated the BAFTA for Best Special Visual Effects. Tom Cruise was number 32 on The 100 Greatest Movie Stars, he was also number 25 on The 100 Greatest Sex Symbols, and he was number 81 on The 100 Greatest Pop Culture Icons. Very good!