Minority Report | Review

Spielberg makes yet another summer thriller.

The name Spielberg has been synonymous with the words ‘summer’ & ‘blockbuster’ ever since the film Jaws splashed onto the screens. 23 years later and with plenty of leftover change in the pocket comes the creator of E.T’s new sci-fi feature with a little of a thriller edge attached to it.

It’s 2054; do you know where your kids are? Half a century into the future gives us the a tech world resembling Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, but in this day and age one should have reason to worry about using the words “I’m going to kill that S.O.B” especially with a system that beats the crap out of our own 9-1-1 emergency phone line creation. John Anderton played by Tom Cruise (Vanilla Sky) isn’t the world’s most happiest of men….but he sure is a great cop. Part of the new pre-crime unit, Anderton uses the psychic visions drawn from the pool-friendly psychic Samantha Morton (Sweet & Lowdown) to gather info, first in the shape of a miniature pool table ball-like piece of from a gumball machine and then into hard data. He then wipes out his hands in this maestro-type stance and with the aid of magic gloves and a talent for deciphering MTV video-like visions he cracks the future cases. When the visions show the most unlikely of scenarios- the “I got framed element” kicks in and the usual plot-diversion of the antagonist in the shape of a confident Colin Farrell (Tigerland) is front and centre. A couple of twists one way and a couple of turns another way and Minority Report feels oddly similar to a film like The Fugitive.

One of the cinema’s great storytellers does a handsomely good job at detailing the Metropolis-like world with a backdrop that includes nifty futuristic detail and with props that give an authentic look of the possibilities of technological advancement. Affixed into the picture is heavy product placement bridging the viewers’ reality of an ad dominated world to a 50 year kick into the future world of the medium shown in the most oddest of places- see Lexus’ own inspiration of the future in automobile looks just as fun from a distance as any of the past James Bond-mobiles. With very little room for disappointment, Spielberg’s Minority Report and his last couple of features have looked great with the work cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, especially the nice colour tones of some of the indoor shots and the Saving Private Ryan quality in the image inside the fight sequences. The CGI provides for many nice visuals and more importantly it isn’t done in over-the-top proportions.

The weakest point in ‘Minority’ is this layer upon layer overload on a narrative that is already thin. It seems that when a sequence should have simply cut to the chase, it stood still and let out a couple monotone burps. It makes for a finale that goes for a one-too-many very predictable pull the rug from beneath you type ending, thus making the little announces like the cat-fight confrontations with the protagonist’s peers and the mysterious eye-ball surgery session stick out like a sore thumb. What Spielberg gives us is far from being top notch, but Minority Report is filled with great ideas which keep the interest level high enough to make this one of the better excuses for keeping out of the summer heat.

Rating 3.5 stars