Minority Report

As a Steven Spielberg fan and because I enjoy Tom Cruise, I went to see this movie in the theaters and the result was memorable. The story itself is good but what made it memorable was the direction. Spielberg is obviously a master storyteller when you look at his career. He takes scripts and brings them to life in a captivating way. The people he chooses to help him tell the story are always great choices. "Minority Report" explores some great themes and it also has many entertaining story twists. The use of irony, contrast and music are also noteworthy.

I love how the opening sequence shows PreCrime in action. Tom Cruise's performance as he is "scrubbing the image" is very convincing. It is the most memorable element of the movie thanks to the use of Schubert's Unfinished Symphony. The use of that music is symbolic. As we hear a piece of art that was never completed, we are watching a prophecy that will eventually go unfulfilled. Early in "Minority Report", the theme of free will versus destiny is explored. The ball that John tossed did not fall because Danny caught it but that didn't change the fact that it was going to fall. Danny is still desirous to verify whether the precogs are as reliable as gravity. John's analogy is revealed to be incorrect towards the end of the film. Then comes the mysterious crisis of the story as John sees himself kill a man he doesn't know. What is more confusing is that it is premeditated. The character of Danny is portrayed early in the film as an antagonist for John. He finds out about the drugs and covets John's job. The fact that John is convicted of murder is just what he wants. The movie has some fun with the fact that John has to fight his colleagues. John even makes sure that one of his buddies doesn't fall off the fire escape. After getting away, he has lost all faith in PreCrime. He feels guilt for arresting people who have committed no crimes. When Lara is introduced in the movie, we come to understand that John and Lara still love each other. I also like how the flashback of John trying to hold his breath underwater at the Baltimore pool is played against him hiding from the spider bots. This time, he is holding his breath for his life. That sequence ends on a light note with the cop saying, "Let's eat." That is a nice contrast to the suspense. I also like the humor of John dropping his eyes and the suspense scene in the mall as John and Agatha hide from the cops. Once we see the man with the sunglasses, the suspense of the film reaches a new level. Horrifically, we come to understand why the John's future crime is premeditated. I love the acting from Cruise as his character arrests Crow. More importantly, Agatha in this scene reveals a possible flaw in PreCrime: if you know your future, you can choose to change it. It is only a possible flaw because the shooting did happen just as predicted: John says "Good-bye Crow" and the gun fires. Did the precogs foresee an accidental killing and are still never wrong or did they see a premeditated murder and John chose to change it? If you think about it, the answer is obvious but because you don't have the time to figure it out while watching the movie, this question creates anxiety later in the climax.

After Crow is "murdered", suddenly Danny changes his tone even though everything is happening in his favor. He realizes that John is not the bad guy in this mystery. If Danny had set up John, why would he expose his own evil plan? This reveals to the audience that Danny is not corrupt, as does his analysis of the Anne Lively murder evidence. Then comes the greatest plot twist in "Minority Report". The timing of the shot that kills Danny is perfect so as to evoke complete surprise. The use of sound is also noteworthy. You can't even tell who fired the shot until you see the gun. Shortly after, John figures out that an unknown adversary set him up because he found out about Anne Lively. The climax does a great job of telling the whole story of the villain's ingenious treachery thanks to John's voiceover. I also like how the real murder of Anne Lively is shown to all the big wigs at the ceremony. The editing of the climax is pretty good with PreCrime learning the outcome of the final showdown between John and the true villain. John wanted PreCrime to go national at the start of the film and by murdering Leo Crow, his goal would have ironically been realized. John ends up turning the tables. Just like John's faceoff with Leo Crow, the evildoer has to decide whether he values PreCrime at the cost of his freedom. As an audience, we haven't had the time to figure out whether knowing your fate provides you with the ability to change it. Many critics did not like the ending because its happy nature contrasts the rest of the movie. I disagree. The whole story is presented in such a way that the audience subconsciously demands a happy ending. We have a hero that we root for. In his quest, he will indirectly end PreCrime. The system of PreCrime is portrayed as slightly unjust and therefore the ending brings resolution we desire. Some critics have suggested that the ending is all in John's mind because in incarceration, "all [your] dreams come true." This doesn't make sense because in the ending, Shawn is still lost to his parents. One flaw in the story of "Minority Report" that I would like to point out is how the bad guy was able to set up the murdering of Leo Crow. How do you get create a future event without controlling the free will of everyone involved? Something that can't be controlled for example is whether John is at the right place at the right time to see the man with the sunglasses. There is also the argument that if John had not seen the precogs' vision, it wouldn't have happened. On the other hand, John for years had planned to kill whoever took his son. All that had to be done was set up the apartment; contract Leo Crow and that may have been enough to frame John using the system.

"Minority Report" uses irony and contrast very well. The scenes have a lot of light shinning in the camera and colors are desaturated just like cinematographer Janusz Kaminski did for the colors on "Saving Private Ryan". Not only is there contrast in how the movie looks but in the use of music. As mentioned, the use of the Unfinished Symphony provides a memorable moment and this is because the classical music contrasts the images of murder despite its symbolism. The movie is full of irony also. The biggest irony is that our characters can only prove whether PreCrime truly works by committing murder themselves. Another moment of irony is Marks sitting beside his bed while his wife has an affair. My favorite is John watching the vision of Anne Lively's murder on a transparent screen in the cellblock. Behind this screen is the "killer's" face. Another theme that the movie explores is how technology is taking away our privacy. As mentioned, Steven Spielberg's direction is the reason why the movie works. Both an ideal & imperfect future is portrayed in "Minority Report" and it resembles Spielberg's film immediately previous to this, "A. I. Artificial Intelligence". Spielberg also wanted to predict the future as best as he could. As a result, he may have influenced the future itself. It seems like "Minority Report" has silently let to the creation of many of today's famous technologies. Apple's touch screen devices and Kinect are a few examples. Other inventions such as an electronic newspaper are in development. We already have breaking news that is sent to us on our devices. The supporting cast members that were initially thought up for this movie are very impressive, so much so that you know it would have worked: Matt Damon as Danny, Meryl Streep as Hineman, Ian McKellen as Lamar and Cate Blanchett as Agatha. This movie was my introduction to both Colin Farell and Max von Sydow (if you don't count von Sydow's small vocal role in "Ghostbusters II"). I feel that von Sydow had a better character in this movie than in "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by the way. The special effects are pretty impressive in this, the first film to have an entire digital production design. The best part of John Williams' musical score is the Anne Lively theme. Because Williams was scoring "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" and "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones" at the same time as this movie, there are similarities between all three of these scores during action scenes. As a final note, Jan de Bont from "Speed" and "Twister" was a producer on this movie although he didn't do much in the creation of the final product.

"Minority Report" became the 10th highest grossing film of 2002. Spielberg won the Critics' Choice Award for directing both this film and another that was released later in 2002. It was nominated at the Oscars for Sound Editing also. Spielberg is the hero of this movie but all those he involved in the production did a great job such as the screenwriters. The story is exciting and its influence can be seen in today's inventions. The movie also contains some dramatic themes. After making "Saving Private Ryan", "A. I." and "Minority Report", Spielberg decided it was time to make some lighthearted movies, starting with "Catch Me If You Can".

4 Stars