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DOWN IN FRONT: Minority Report
| DAN’S GRADE: A A: MUST SEE B: WORTH WATCHING C: RENT IT D: POOR F: WICKED BAD |
That is the premise behind Steven Spielberg’s latest science fiction adventure “Minority Report.” Tom Cruise plays John Anderton, a police officer in the year 2054 who leads an experimental government crime unit that arrests people destined to become murderers. These would-be killers are fingered by a trio of psychics who float in a pool all day broadcasting dark visions of future killings.
John believes the system is perfect, until he is implicated as a future murderer. From there the chase is on, making the movie a sci-fi version of “The Fugitive” in which John has only a matter of days to outrun his pursuers, prove he is not a killer and find out how the system failed. Those hunting him are his friends and colleagues, and they employ some interesting high-tech gadgets in the chase.
Throughout the movie, we are treated to a view of an all-too-possible future in which every citizen is watched constantly, not only by police and the government but by advertisers. The computer animation is flawless. It does not, as in so many other movies, distract the viewer from the story and look hopelessly fake.
The movie manages to deliver the thrill of an action movie while probing a number of interesting ethical questions. For example, how can you lock someone up when they haven’t technically committed a crime? The movie also provides the suspense of a conspiracy thriller and some elements of a good old fashioned who-done-it.
This film is not from the warm and fuzzy Spielberg who brought us “E.T.” With “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan,” Spielberg has shown us the darkness of our past, and now, with this film and “A.I. Artificial Intelligence,” he seems to be predicting a gathering darkness in our future.
Fellow parents be warned that at PG-13, this one is probably not appropriate for your kids.
Mainers, take note of the final scene of the movie, which includes overhead shots of Butter Island , filmed in Oct. 2001. The helicopter that took the shots flew out of Knox County Regional Airport in Owls Head.