Minority Report
Imagine, if you will, a futuristic city with a zero murder rate for six years in a row. You might be thinking, "What is this guy smoking (and where can I score some of it)?" but please hear me out for a minute. The city in this hypothetical situation is Washington DC, which, in reality, is not famous for its impressive public-safety record. Are you able to conjure up an image? Don't worry about it, because Steven Spielberg does it for you in his latest action thriller, Minority Report. The results are nothing short of mind-blowing.
John Anderton (Tom Cruise) is an officer working for Precrime, an agency that solves murders before they happen. It works like this: Psychic individuals called Precogs receive images of future murders. They are hooked up to a screen to allow officers (i.e. Anderton) to examine and manipulate the images to find out where and when the crime will happen. The challenge is finding the location in time to stop the murder.
At the film's beginning, Precrime is preparing for national syndication. First, the agency has to be inspected by a federal agent named Witwer (rising star Colin Farrell). While the inspection goes on, the Precogs envision Anderton killing a man. Anderton believes that Witwer is setting him up, because Anderton doesn't know the anticipated victim, and Witwer is simply a walking rectum. Anderton escapes, determined to prove his innocence, but is Anderton truly being framed?
Overall, Minority Report is one of the best action flicks in the past year or two. The story and special effects are cutting edge. However, one notices references to earlier films: a futuristic manhunt (Total Recall), a presumed killer determined to prove his innocence (The Fugitive), and a futuristic society where individual liberties are traded for peace and security (Demolition Man), for example. That's not a real criticism, because after 100-plus years of filmmaking, it's almost impossible to find full originality in a movie anymore.
MR begs the question, "Does the 1st Amendment (more specifically, the provision that bans prior constraint) hurt society?" Another way to phrase that question is, "How far should the government go to protect us?" Answers to those questions may be found in a social justice ethics lecture. This is another example of MR's distinction; it makes you think about the society we're living in today. On the contrary, 99 percent of the other action movies out there have the depth of a kiddie pool in a pygmie village.
Minority Report is thrilling, intelligent, well written, well executed, and visually beautiful. Most other Hollywood directors would sell their souls (if they haven't already) to have one of their films turn out like this. Mr. Spielberg probably sees MR and thinks, "Decent, but I've done better." In my relatively humble opinion, no one else can do better than Mr. Spielberg. All we can do is pay his salary.
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Alcohol might enhance the thrills of this action blast, but don't kill the brain cells responsible for unraveling movie plots.
Guys get to see a great thriller, and girls get to see Tom Cruise. Everyone wins!
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