Minority Report - Bernard Ho

When the name ‘Steven Spielberg’ is mentioned, one’s mind automatically conjures up images and memories of his most cherished works from Jaws, E.T., Close Encounters of a Third Kind, Jurassic Park, and three-fourths of the Indiana Jones series.  I am a huge fan of his films, and there is little doubt that the aforementioned films highlight Spielberg’s mastery of his craft. 

However, I find that one film in his extensive filmography is unjustly overlooked, namely Minority Report.  Based on a short story by science fiction writer Philip K. Dick (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep), Minority Report was released in the summer of 2002 and was a critical and commercial success.  For some reason, though, you would be hard pressed to find someone talking about it 10 years after its release with the same awe and appreciation as they would about Spielberg’s other work.  Here is my attempt to get someone, anyone, to revisit the film or see it for the first time.

The film posits a not-too-distant future in which a government agency (PreCrime) uses precognitive psychics (precogs) to predict and stop future murders.  There are many memorable scenes showcasing great technical skills in the special/visual effects and cinematography and A-game acting from all the main players.  The plot, in the form of a murder mystery, unfolds naturally and is driven by the motivations of the characters instead of plot contrivances.

The world-building is second-to-none as the film quickly establishes the rules with minimal exposition. When exposition is necessary, it is done through the character of Danny Witwer, played by Colin Farrell, who like the audience is unfamiliar with PreCrime technology.  Through skilful editing, oftentimes between the premonitions of events to come and the events themselves, we see how the system works more often than we are told how it works.  And by the way, the scenes of Anderton shuffling and manipulating images on the PreCrime interface are wonderful to behold.  I quickly forgot about the plausibility of such things and bought into the world and was deeply invested in the characters and the ramifications of such a system if it were to exist. 

The film was marketed as an action movie, but the action is hardly what makes this movie great.  In fact, my one complaint about the movie is the action scenes, with the exceptions of the incredible spider search and the foot chase through the mall.  While they are unique and show off the technology of the time in which the story takes place (sick sticks, repulsor guns, jet packs, etc), the attempts at comedy and obvious wire-fu choreography undermine the heightened reality established early in the film.  Even though this is science-fiction, it remains unlikely that any normal human being can survive crashing through kitchen floors, flip up onto an opponent’s shoulders during combat or survive being trapped in a car as it is being assembled with fast-moving machinery with freaking laser beams.

Instead, what really puts this film up on a pedestal and sets it apart from most adaptations of Philip K. Dick’s stories is the genuine sense of tension that Spielberg creates.  Part of that tension comes from the film’s consideration of the ethical dilemma and philosophical conundrums of utilizing such a system to fight crime.  Are the precogs deprived of their human rights?  How do those rights compare to the lives of those they have and will continue to save?  Can the system be corrupted?  Is it acceptable to arrest someone for something that they have not committed?

Philosophical considerations aside, the film also has a lot of heart.  Tom Cruise shows great range in this role, transitioning from the confident Chief of Precrime, to a grieving and vengeful father whose drug habit may jeopardize the system he believes in wholeheartedly, to the confused is-he isn’t-he target of conspiracy.  But despite the name at the top of the poster, the heart of the movie really is Samantha Morton’s Agatha, the most gifted of the precogs.  It’s a shame that science fiction tends not to be favored in acting categories during awards season because she deserves many accolades for this role.  The conviction in her role is best summed up by a scene, in which a side character dismissively questions her as a genuine precog, and all Morton has to do is give him a hard yet vulnerable stare and he is instantly convinced, as was I.    

To sum it up, this is not just excellent science fiction, but a terrific film plain and simple.  I have rewatched the film numerous times and have found something new to consider and more to appreciate each time.  It’s a gift that keeps on giving.  And those are the films that will eventually stand the test of time.

 Score: 9.5/10