Subject: Review: Minority Report (2002)

From: Homer Yen <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2002 18:14:22 -0000

"Minority Report" is a Major Accomplishment

When Steven Spielberg is at the top of his game,
he creates wondrous stories that spark the
imagination and inspire us with child-like awe. 
When Tom Cruise is at the top of his game, he
brings wit and determination and soul to his
character.  They are both at the top of their
games, and they bring to us a futuristic thriller
that can do no wrong.  

In the year 2054, a boon to crime fighting has
arisen thanks to three prescient beings (known as
"Pre-Cogs") that can foresee future murders
before they happen.  A complex computer apparatus
that incorporates biotechnological mechanisms
projects and records their images of murders to
come.  The police from the Department of
Pre-Crime instantly mobilize to prevent it from
ever happening.

"There hasn't been a murder in six years.  The
system is perfect," exclaims John Anderten (Tom
Cruise), Chief of the Department of Pre-Crime. 
However, his unbridled belief in the system is
making him dangerous to some for reasons that are
not immediately clear.  An apparent conspiracy
arises as the "Pre-Cogs" label him as a future
murderer.  The victim is someone that Anderten
doesn't even know, but his destiny has been
sealed and he can't change the future.  Or can
he?

Anderten goes on the run in an effort to clear
his name and to get to the bottom of this
engrossing mystery. He elicits the help of many,
including his indomitable Director (Max Von
Sydow) and even Agatha (Samantha Morton) who is
the lead Pre-Cog.  Meanwhile, the department, now
headed by a hungry bureaucrat (Collin Farrell),
deploys officers and futuristic machinery to hunt
him down. 

While the mystery holds you to the very end, we
are treated to lots of other superb filmmaking
touches that enhance the movie watching
experience.  Characters are well developed. 
Anderten is much more than a high-flying cop and
Agatha is more than a gifted soul.  They are each
scarred in some way.  Their partnership looks and
seems unlikely but each holds the key to the
other's salvation. 

The visualizations are stunning.  The
cinematography, sometimes grainy and sometimes
bleached, adds to the aura of a future marred
with uncertainty and distrust.  The metropolis of
the future is incredibly realized.  It features a
highway system that runs horizontally AND
vertically.  There's a definite sense of Big
Brother watching you, as privacy seems to no
longer exist.  Once you walk into a clothing
store, for example, an image greets you by name. 
The only way to remain incognito, it seems, is to
rip one's own eyes out!

Savvy direction really elevates this film.  We
see it in many incredible sequences.  Of note are
the robotic spiders that infiltrate a building in
an effort to find Anderten.  Another is a
memorable pursuit through a busy mall where
Agatha uses her cognitive abilities to help
Anderten allude capture.  The timing and
choreography of all this must be incredibly
difficult, but the end result looks seamless. 
The 'wow' effect is high.

There is such gratification that arises from
watching a film like "Minority Report" that you
would be hard pressed to find a more complete
movie this year.  It is an orgy of plot, action,
and ideas.  It has the sustained feel of a clever
whodunit; it showcases stellar action sequences
that are tense and sublime; and it offers a peek
into a possible future that stretches the
imagination without feeling improbable.

Grade: A

S:	0 out of 3
L:	2 out of 3
V:	2 out of 3

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X-Language: en
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X-RT-TitleID: 1113879
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