Minority Report (2002) -
Weasello Rating:
{>>>-} (Bow-chickey)
Please note that this review is laden with spoilers.
Opening: In reference to
Nocte's writup above, this movie is
not,
IMHO, as evil as nocte makes it to be. I can only think of three "sexual" scenes:
- A random old lady kisses Tom Cruise for no reason whatsoever! (Thanks, Raspy)
- A couple is seen, for about 5 seconds, under some sheets and groaning.
- There are "holo rooms" where a few people appear to be having sex, but only sillhouette holograms can be seen.
Hyperi0n informs me of two more sexual scenes:
- Tom Cruise (supposedly) ogles a (supposed) woman (supposedly) off-screen (The woman is supposedly off screen, not Tom Cruise).
- The technician taking care of the precogs nearly kisses a precog, but fails.
In fact, I can't think of any nudity in the movie at all.
As for violence and
nightmares, for the
faint of heart and all that; I do admit that I jumped twice... But that was merely out of suprise, not out of horror. I would recommend people near the brink of
heart failure to stay away, but your stomach will not get queasy. There is tiny amount of blood in the film (a
blood stained shirt and maybe a shot-glass-sized splatter) and all of the violence is punching without any physical damage appearing. There are a few shots fired but nothing I would ever, ever consider gore. I recommend that
Nocte watch some of the
Jason series.
Perhaps
the most "gross" scene was a
CG shot where a guy had no eyeballs and just two gaping holes in his head; however, the effect was rather poorly done and did nothing in
the "horror" department of my brain. I moreso rolled my eyes, which is kind of ironic, given
the situation.
Body count: Though an action movie, the body count is approximately 2. There are other on-screen deaths (up to about 5 to 8) but they are un-done by the
Time Cops.
Plot Outline: John is a cop in the year 2054. He is a
Time Cop(tm). Three people have the natural ability to see future murders; they have machinery built around them to record and stow this data, to be analyzed by an test-run police force.
As the nation prepares to vote on mass-producing this system and making it available to the entire country, some disturbing truths about the "system" become apparant. Through a not-so-long yet convoluted plot, it is determined that two of the three
precogs are sometimes wrong on their predictions, and the last (and sometimes true) prediction is tossed out - missing data. This prediction is known as
the Minority Report and, if known to the general public, would tear the system apart.
Why? Well, the system is perfect - with hundreds.. nay, thousands of people locked up for future crimes, how would you react if you found out that you "may" not have killed the person you didn't quite kill yet? (this could get confusing)
In any case, John's number is up and he is hunted down for the future murder of some
random guy. But it turns out to be a setup, and in a unprecedented predictable way, it turns out to be a setup with a standard badguy-is-good, goodguy-is-bad villain-swap-plot.
Opinion: Though this movie had amazing
special effects and some talented
editing and general
screen work, it left a little to be desired in the
plot section. There were many possibilities to play with, but this movie turned out to lose it's plot halfway through and turn into an action movie.
I would compare this movie to
The Matrix minus the "all-new" bullet-time that made it so wildly popular. Both movies have great sci-fi plots, and both movies were superbly done, but the plot was abandoned for the more
favorable action movie crowd.
I would recommend this movie as a rental - I do regret paying full price to see the movie at the theatre on opening night.
Note: I have not read the book (yet) so I can't offer an opinion of comparison. I do, however, agree with hotei; the movie would be much better if the system wasn't shut down at the end. As it stands, we all walk away from the theatre with a happy smile on our face, all conflicts resolved; the movie would have a much bigger impact if the system went on chugging in a dark, sombre, make-you-think style. Then again, I'm a Kubrick fan and I loved A.I., so YMMV.
Interesting Notes:
- Matt Damon was originally up for the Colin Farrell role.
- Like many spielberg movies, the music was done by the amazing John Williams. Very well done.
- This movie is based on a short story by the name of "The Minority Report."
- ABC News released an article on opening day, an interview with Steven Spielberg. "‘Big Brother Is Watching Us Now’ —
And It Will Get Worse, Director Says" is what I'm seeing on my computer monitor right now. In this article Spielberg speaks of his fears of The Man slowly taking over our privacies and etcetera etcetera.
Glaring Errors that Detracted from Viewing Quality(tm):
- Signs advertise an election to be held on Tuesday, April 22, 2054. 22 April 2054 will be a Wednesday. (Who sits down and figures this out?! WHO!?!)
Lead roles (Now with the stars and not the extras!):
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Writing credits: Philip K. Dick (short story),
Scott Frank (I) (screenplay)
Tagline: What would you do if you were accused of a murder, you had not committed... yet?
Sources: The oh-so-wonderful IMDB, my head, and the theatre.