Minority Report is a scuzzy futuristic action thriller based on a short story by Philip K Dick.
John Anderton (Tom Cruise) is law enforcer in a pioneering Pre Crime unit in Washington D.C. He catches murderers before they commit the crime thanks to some psychics called Precogs who can see these future crimes.
Anderton is an ace cop who is also part Judge Dredd. He he also takes drugs. The after effects of losing his son in an abduction that resulted in his marriage crumbling.
Murder rate has gone down in DC and the system is about to go national under the leadership of Director Lamar Burgess (Max Von Sydow.) Danny Witwer (Colin Farrell) is the Federal agent who arrives to examine the system. He is sceptical and is also out to get Anderton.
Anderton's world falls apart when Precogs saw a vision of him killing a man that he does not know. Now his colleagues wants to arrest him. Anderton needs to see if the system of pre crimes he believed in has any flaws. He thinks Witwer has set him up.
Steven Spielberg after his second Best Director Oscar win attempts to be a different type of filmmaker. Eschewing Ridley Scott's dark neon look of Blade Runner. He has gone for washed out colours and hi tech. Characters get tailored adverts but it also allows the film company to introduce product placements. Some of the brands ain't going to make it into 2054.
Minority Report is also a murder mystery with religious symbolisms. The three Precogs are seen as religious deities by some. One man immediately kneels and starts to confess his sins when he sees one.
The screenplay also plays around the ideas of Isaac Asimov. What if this perfect system have flaws and it can be exploited?
The movies works better as a sci fi mystery thriller. I just felt that the action sequences were tagged on, allowing for Tom Cruise to run like a rabbit. The clever scene was when one of the Precogs Agatha (Samantha Morton) guides Anderton in the mall.
However there are a few weak links in the narrative which resorts to cliches. Witwer begins to have doubts about Anderton's guilt but then he makes a clumsy error, surprisingly for someone who was also an experienced homicide cop. The comparisons to Judge Dredd makes the villain easy to guess.
The ending was also a little too pat especially when the villain is publicly revealed but still gets to have a showdown with Anderton.
John Anderton (Tom Cruise) is law enforcer in a pioneering Pre Crime unit in Washington D.C. He catches murderers before they commit the crime thanks to some psychics called Precogs who can see these future crimes.
Anderton is an ace cop who is also part Judge Dredd. He he also takes drugs. The after effects of losing his son in an abduction that resulted in his marriage crumbling.
Murder rate has gone down in DC and the system is about to go national under the leadership of Director Lamar Burgess (Max Von Sydow.) Danny Witwer (Colin Farrell) is the Federal agent who arrives to examine the system. He is sceptical and is also out to get Anderton.
Anderton's world falls apart when Precogs saw a vision of him killing a man that he does not know. Now his colleagues wants to arrest him. Anderton needs to see if the system of pre crimes he believed in has any flaws. He thinks Witwer has set him up.
Steven Spielberg after his second Best Director Oscar win attempts to be a different type of filmmaker. Eschewing Ridley Scott's dark neon look of Blade Runner. He has gone for washed out colours and hi tech. Characters get tailored adverts but it also allows the film company to introduce product placements. Some of the brands ain't going to make it into 2054.
Minority Report is also a murder mystery with religious symbolisms. The three Precogs are seen as religious deities by some. One man immediately kneels and starts to confess his sins when he sees one.
The screenplay also plays around the ideas of Isaac Asimov. What if this perfect system have flaws and it can be exploited?
The movies works better as a sci fi mystery thriller. I just felt that the action sequences were tagged on, allowing for Tom Cruise to run like a rabbit. The clever scene was when one of the Precogs Agatha (Samantha Morton) guides Anderton in the mall.
However there are a few weak links in the narrative which resorts to cliches. Witwer begins to have doubts about Anderton's guilt but then he makes a clumsy error, surprisingly for someone who was also an experienced homicide cop. The comparisons to Judge Dredd makes the villain easy to guess.
The ending was also a little too pat especially when the villain is publicly revealed but still gets to have a showdown with Anderton.