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It is year 2054, and the Washington D.C. Police Pre-Crime Unit is six years old and successfully
ongoing. Its director, Burgess (Max Von Sydow), proudly claims that since Pre-Crime started, crime was cut down by 90%. The unit uses a trio of psychic precognitives or
"precogs" enslaved in sealed water tanks under tight security, whose brain waves can visualize future crimes. Criminals are apprehended even before crimes take place and
victims are saved. The system is working perfectly until one day, its chief cop, Anderton (Tom Cruise), sees himself as the killer in the next vision. Refusing to believe that
he is capable of murder, he escapes to prove that Pre-Crime is not that infallible. He learns that the system's flaws are very carefully hidden as secret 'minority reports.'
Desperate, he kidnaps the most gifted of the pre-cogs, now a lethargic Agatha (Samantha Morton), to help him uncover the truth, and to explore the possibility of a preordained
future and ambiguities of the past like the unsolved Pre-Crime disappearance of his 6-year-old son.
Based on a short story by Philip Dick whose specialty is creating elaborate future worlds, Speilberg's
technical and moviemaking genius once again has created a spectacular, futuristic sci-fi action thriller, rich in cinematic razzle-dazzle. The plot is captivating and the
acting compelling. Cruise is perfectly cast as the super cop turned tormented fugitive who takes the viewer on breathless high-speed chases with magnetic cars racing sideways
alongside skyscrapers. He fights jet-propelled backpacked cops and electronically monitored spiders scurrying through every nook and cranny as they identify their quarry via a
retinal scan. Light-hearted moments are provided as the fragile Agatha uses her precog powers to hide her and Anderton from their pursuers. The photography is beautifully done
in muted hues of grays and blues enhancing the novel images.
Even as viewers marvel at the exciting thrills of the movie, disturbing questions cannot be
ignored: Is it morally right to imprison potential killers when they have not yet done anything wrong? Is it justified to have three supposedly gifted human beings languish in
guarded water tanks to provide safety and security for the community? As to the system: How fool proof is it, and how infallible are the precogs? Is it truly used solely
to curb crime or concoct dubious arrests for the vested interests of the powers-that-be? Are crimes preordained and therefore cannot be altered? And what about free will?
Despite its disturbing nuances, Minority Report is undeniably a superbly-crafted thought
provoking escapist entertainment, a refreshing change from recent cartoon and comics-based films.
(Date reviewed: June 28, 2002)
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