|
| Minority Report
Year: 2002
Classification: Action/Adventure
Actors/Actresses:
- Steven Spielberg
- Tom Cruise
- Max von Sydow
Cruise Spielberg=Bland
I really wanted to like this film. I'm not a big fan of Tom Cruise, and Spielberg has been on shakey futuistic ground(AI, anyone?). But I have to give them points for trying. However, for a movie that focuses on being a big thinker, there are so many plot holes in this one that I was taken completely out of the film and just sat there wondering how the hell each one got by Spielberg, who, if nothing else, knows how to craft a story well.
Cruise plays John Anderton, the head of the DC Department of Pre-Crime. In the future, you see, murders can be predicted ahead of time by three psychics called "pre-cogs", that visualize them and give their visualizations to the pre-crime cops, who stop a murder before it happens. In the film's one spectacular scene, the opening, Cruise and his team race against the clock to stop a cukoled husband from killing his wife and her lover. It's a nail-biter, and the movie may be worth a view based on that, but that's it.
The system is unique to DC, but a national referrendum on a nationwide pre-crime system is up on the ballots, and Cruise and his mentor, played by the always excellent Max Von Sydow, want nothing more than to see it pass. Howeever a Dept. of Justice official, Colin Farrell, is looking into the system to see if it's as perfect as it says. This is where things go bad for Cruise. You see, there are these little wooden balls that have the names of who is going to commit a murder inscribed into them. One color if the murder is unpremeditated, one if it's premeditated. A premeditated ball comes down with Cruise's name on it, and he, of course, runs, trying to find out who is framing him and trying to save the system he built at the same time.
This is the story, and it's a good idea. The problem lies in the plot, and it's many gaping holes. Any time-related film will have them, but a director as good as Spielberg should have realized how blatant they are. For example, we are told that the Pre-Cogs who see the murders are genetic mutations, accidents. And they can only see in the area around DC. How then, will the program go National? There is no explination as to where the other Pre-Cogs will come from. Secondly, for a man wanted by the law, Cruise gets in and out of Pre-Crime HQ pretty easily, using his own eyeball. He had to have it removed to avoid the optical scanners that are everywhere(More on that in a moment). Still, wouldn't his security clearance be voided by the fact he is a wanted man? Finally, there is the circumstances of the murder that Cruise is supposed to commit. He says he's never met the man, and logically he shouldn't go looking for him, right? Avoid the man and you avoid the crime? Well, he goes looking for him, and what happens throws everything else we know about the Pre-Cogs, their visions, and teh little wooden balls into a blender and destroys the logic of the film. There are many, MANY more plot holes. A drinking game could be devised around them.
The final act
Superbly executed
You'll enjoy this stylish blend of sci-fi and film noir if you're willing to suspend your disbelief at the door. Many have decried the illogical holes in Scott Frank and Jon Cohen's otherwise excellent screenplay, but in the end these deficiencies hardly matter. Movies dealing with predestination never answer the big questions effectively - they just use them as the springboard for a story. And "Minority Report" tells a pretty good one, even if it does reveal where it's going too soon and is occasionally marred by Spielberg's trademark mawkishness. Tom Cruise is hugely enjoyable as the frantic John Anderton, and Colin Farrell does a fine job of making you hate Detective Witwer. It looks great, sounds great, holds your attention for all 147 minutes, and will even have you giggling at the spectacular product placements and some unexpected comedy. It's a reasonably faithful adaptation of Philip K. Dick's story, too, so fans of the original should be pleased - although Act 3 does see the writers wandering into Hollywood-ending territory and has Spielberg wrapping things up on a typically optimistic false note. Still, it's refreshing to see a bunch of filmmakers tackling a sci-fi adaptation seriously and successfully while still keeping an eye on the box-office. If you're going to spend close to $100 million on a sci-fi project - and, let's face it, these days you have to - then you also have to consider the return. The result is a memorable film that strikes a savvy balance between deep thought and commercial appeal. "A.I" flopped because it glorified the former and "The Time Machine" failed by pandering to the latter. "Minority Report" wisely walks the middle-path. It won't have enough explosions to thrill die-hard action fans, nor quite enough depth to really please sci-fi devotees. But for the rest of us, it works.
does not live up to the hype.
this was supposed to be a glimpse into a very possible future.i heard on an hbo special that the directer payed the top experts in almost every field to come to his house for the weekend to discuss the realities that will be in the future.the fields included automative,law enforcement,science,marketing etc.im having a hard time beliving this now.the whole point of this story has any basis in reality at all.there are these 3 psycic chicks who the government keeps in a tank.there only function is to send mental images into these computers that fortell future murders.the murder rate drops to 0 and the system is perfect.well one day tom cruise gets his name as a would be murderer and decides to buck the system.there is a child abduction/murder angle in this movie.i think it is unthinkable enough that this really happens.i think it is an abselute atrocity that moviemakers feel like they have to put that in movies.i watch movies for entertainment not to be reminded how sick and twisted this world really is.or two hours i could escape the harsh realities.then some jerk says hmmmm we could use any bad guy we want.lets use a child killer.that sucks!i would have rated this movie a 4,if not for that.steven spielsberg is your director.ill give him yet another award.the most overated directer of all time.this is his best work ever though.theres a lot of slow parts in it also.a lot of police detective type work and talk.there are a coup
tion. You get a comparison for ro
duct
The characters seem so lonly and vulnerable, one wond
nufacturer>
Buy Minority Report at Amazon.com
Buy posters at Allposters.com
Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone! | |
|
