tom Cruise
and Nottingham's Samatha Morton star in Minority Report.
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After the disappointing
A.I, Spielberg has completely redeemed himself with this excellent
sci-fi thriller.
Neil Heath
In A.I, Spielberg had gone
in a different direction in his 'fantasy' films, he created a darker
and grittier world, then just when you thought it should have concluded,
he went back to his roots and 'fluffed' it up.
In Minority Report, Spielberg goes the whole way with his vision
and it's completely satisfying.
The Plot
In the year 2054, murder in Washington has been virtually wiped
out, with the help of three pre-cognitives - psychics to you and
me. One of which is played by Samantha Morton.
The police unit
is called Pre-crime - headed by John Anderton (Cruise) - their job
is to reach the murderer before he or she has commited the crime.
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| Shall we
dance? |
Anderton has
absolute belief in the system, a system which raises moral concerns,
but when he himself is supposed to commit a murder, he sets out
to prove his innocence.
Review
Usually with sci-fi movies, there's too many explosions and not
enough explanations.
But Minority Report has it all. Whilst thrilling you, it also gets
the brain working.
Minority Report
looks and feels like Bladerunner.
Not only were
both movies originally novels by Philip K. Dick, but also M.R has
the same grittier feel as Bladerunner, where technology has advanced
but social conditions and humans themselves, have not.
M.R says alot about a future capitalist society, where the very
poor in 2054 Washington, live a very gloomy existence, whilst the
wealthy live on the outskirts in huge mansions.
But not only is it a statement about society, it also has a dig
at commercialism. In the future ads are even more intrusive than
today, they go directly into your head, calling out to you, identifying
you through your eyes.
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| Tom Cruise
engages in a bit of rocket pack activity. |
An
example would be, "hey there Neil, buy a Big Mac, you know
you want one."
The biggest
point M.R raises is the moral issue, how can you sentence a person
for murder who has not yet commited the crime?
Would it be more sensible to arrest that person afterwards? But
then of course, you still have a dead person.
It's on this
issue that Spielberg should be commended.
He's not exactly
known for political messages in his work, but M.R is spot on, most
movie viewers want to wrestle with ideas in a film, and that's what
makes movies 'watchable'.
Minority Report should not be missed, especially at the cinema,
the sprawling future landscape can only be appreciated on the big
screen.
It runs like
a detective story, it's as slick as 'The Matrix' and someone described
it as the best film noir since Bladerunner, I'd go one step further
and say it's better.
If you don't
enjoy this film, then I don't know what's wrong with you.
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