Just short of 50 years from now, due to the effects from a new form of narcotic taken by their mother while pregnant and some assistance from genetic engineers, a few children are born with the ability to tap into the common gestalt when so serious a tear as murder is going to occur and literally see the event in advance. Technology allows their minds to be tapped and tied into computer systems. Max von Sydow plays Burgess, the scientist who develops this combination into a new type of police force that can prevent murders from happening. The system has been under test for six years and has cleaned up all the murders in Washington, DC, and a referendum to approve national expansion is only days away.
That’s the background for Minority Report, the heavily hyped film starring Tom Cruise as the top Precrime cop and directed by Steven Spielberg. A good film though not quite up to the hype or fawning reviews. Like Blade Runner and Total Recall, this is another movie based on a Philip K. Dick short story; like those all that’s really kept is the basic premise, a slight tilt towards the dark side, and major character names.
Cruise is not bad, actually, given a much better script and character than he had last time out in Vanilla Sky. Hot new actor Colin Farrell is okay but his character is a little too obvious. von Sydow is beyond acting, he’s made so many movies over the years that he just is the character. Samantha Morton isn’t called on for more than very obvious facial emoting but does that well enough.
Spielberg puts huge visuals up on the screen, a ot of very cool stuff that appeals to the technogeek in me, but after awhile this distracts from the story and hurts the movie. Though I surely wouldn’t mind having one of the jet packs the cops fly around on. One of my companions complained mightily about the slightly grainy quality of the film, which I suppose was a choice affected by the director too.
Joshua has an interesting take on MR, Cruise, and Spielberg.
Not quite as good as, say, The Bourne Identity but worth seeing.
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