| Minority Report |
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| Rating: Good Distributor: 20th Century Fox MPAA Rating: PG-13 Running Length: 2 hours, 31 minutes Genre: Action, Science-Fiction U.S. Release Date: June 21st, 2002 Director: Steven Spielberg Cast: Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, and Max Von Sydow |
| image from www.movie-source.com |
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| Plot: John Anderton (Tom Cruise) works for the "Pre-Crime" organization in the year 2054. With the help of three Pre-Cogs, his organization can predict a murder before it happens. When they do predict a crime Anderton and his crew of policemen arrest the person who is supposed to commit the crime before he does it. The organization is only operative in Washington D.C., but because of its success in ridding the city of murder it may go national. Enter a federal agent checking everything out and making the Pre-Crime people rather nervous. Suddenly, Anderton the Pre-Cogs forecast that Anderton will commit murder. Hoping to proove himself innocent he runs from authorities, piecing together the mystery. |
| Critique: Minority Report is a visually startling motion picture with rousing action. Like A.I. it should please moviegoers not normally interested in Spielberg's work. However, like A.I., Minority Report is not one of his best films, not even close. Still it is a very worthwhile film, and a film of superb craftsmanship. Spielberg works with his cinematographer Janusz Kaminski in creating a noirish future world with many tones of dark gray. The visuals give the film a more unique feel. Conversely, the basic structure of the plot is very similar to most fugitive films. Although there are several surprising twists and turns, the film never strays far from familiar ground. A motion picture does not have to be ground breaking or original to be good, but it would be nice to see some variations in the common theme. For instance, Tom Cruise's character John Anderton had his wife and child murdered, a story idea that is recycled in too many Hollywood films. The actors in Minority Report do not have demanding roles, and the characters are not very developed by the screenwriters. Accordingly, the performances are good, but not stellar. Tom Cruise begins the film with a confident, ordinary hero performance, but warms up as the film goes along. Colin Farrell is given the least rewarding role as Tom Cruise's oposition, the role is not terribly juicy. Farrell is given a plethora of Sherlock Holmes lines, but little else. Max Von Sydow's role is also limiting, but Von Sydow is still good as Cruise's supervisor and superior. Lastly, Samantha Morton is given a more physically demanding role, and she performs well, but her character is not fleshed out. In conclusion, Spielberg crafts a very strong thriller, and he works with Kaminski to create excellent visuals. Still much of the story is familiar at its core, and it feels like a safe excursion for such a a talented director. Additionally, as with Jurassic Park the characters were not developed enough. Nonetheless, Minority Report is a very solid motion picture, and I recommend it. review by supernothingman |