Minority Report - Review

Minority Report has everything you would want in a Science-Fiction Action Thriller. Just go down the list of things you want to see in an exciting movie, Minority Report has it. You want a creative and unique world, suspense, solid pacing, cool shots, thrilling action sequences, great acting, and intrigue from start to finish, Minority Report is for you. However, the main reason why Minority Report is so fascinating is because it has the perfect balance between a unique idea and a compelling story. Many movies fail to do both just as well as Minority Report does and we all have Steven Spielberg to thank for that.

Steven Spielberg is my favourite director. Yes, it's a cliched answer, but the man knows how to make an entertaining movie. Here, he is able to bring a concept to life that could have been told as an extremely dark and edgy psycho-thriller (similar to Blade Runner) but is able to keep it grounded with a strong character-driven story.

John Anderton, played by Tom Cruise is the chief officer of the pre-crime police unit in Washington D.C in the year 2054. What is pre-crime you ask? Well, in the distant future of 2054, the police department discovered three individuals with psychic abilities (pre-cogs). These pre-cogs are kept in a lab and have visions of future murders in the city. After a vision is recorded, Anderton and his team analyze the vision to find out where the murder takes place. Once they discover the location of the crime, and since the suspect, the victim and the time of the murder are already pre-determined, the officers then make the arrest. It is really cool and somewhat haunting to listen to Tom Cruise speak the words, "Mr. Marks, by mandate of the District of Columbia Pre Crime Division, I'm placing you under arrest for the future murder of Sarah Marks and Donald Dubin that was to take place today, April 22 at 0800 hours and four minutes."

So right away, this sounds like an awesome concept and a great groundwork to build a movie world for the audience to escape to. Here is where Steven Spielberg shines, the world building. Obviously, with most futuristic movies, we have self-driving cars that can scale the sides of buildings, we have holograms, spaceship-like transportation, and jetpacks, but we also have the little details that make the world feel more realized than the obvious stuff we would see in future science fiction films. We have advertisements that speak directly to you. For example, if I were to go to my local movie theatre, a hologram might pop up and say, "Hello Brandon! Great to see you again! How was Minority Report? If you liked it then don't forget to check out Tom Cruise's new Mission: Impossible film" Also, this world still has old school houses and the classic Washington monuments mixed in with the futuristic looking buildings, cars, highways, etc. It's a fully idealized world that acts as a great escape to us.

Now that the world and the concept are established, in some cases, the story that a movie provides us with can't live up to the premise and the thought-provoking side of the film. I think of films like Demolition Man and Starship Troopers. Movies that I think have wonderful premises that are awesome to discuss with friends and can even be written about in philosophical university papers, but they are burdened with stories that don't live up to their premise. In Minority Report, the story definitely lives up to the premise one hundred percent. After the Pre Crime unit starts to be investigated for flaws by bureaucrats like Danny Witwer (Colin Farrell), Anderton is called into the office to investigate a new vision by the pre-cogs. The only twist, the suspect is Anderton himself and the vision states that he will kill a man by the name of Leo Crow, a man he has never heard of.

I was watching this film with one of my best friends the other day and while I had seen it a long time ago, I didn't dare spoil that reveal (apologies for spoiling it now). He turned to be with his eyes nearly popping out of his skull and his jaw open wide, followed by a few words I dare not write in this review. Not only were we hooked into the movie, now we were submerged and completely along for the ride.

From there, we have everything you would want in a movie like this. Action, suspense, drama, heartbreak, twists and turns, all while being wickedly entertaining and intriguing all the way through. I didn't want this movie to end and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since seeing it again.

I always say that movies are about emotion and intrigue. If a film can leave that big of an impact on you that you not only enjoy the film while watching it, but you also discuss the bigger themes of the film like the morality of arresting people for crimes they haven't committed yet, then it has done its job to perfection. Minority Report is a fantastic motion picture.