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Minority Report is a little bit on the dark side, but it's a really good action movie. The plot requires a little more thought than the average Tom Cruise flick, but it doesn’t go too far over the edge. The plot is basically that the hero (who is a cop) is set up for a murder and must run from the law to prove his innocence. To put a twist on the age-old theme, the murder hasn’t occurred yet.
Cruise is the head of a “pre-crime” unit that uses three psychic teenagers who see the future to prevent murders from happening. The premise is that the three “pre-cogs” are never wrong and because of them the murder rate in Washington D.C. has fallen to less than zero in six years. On the eve of a federal election to decide if the system will go nationwide, a Federal agent shows up to investigate the Pre-Crime unit. He and Cruise hate each other from the start. And lo and behold, the next murder prediction is of John Anderton (Cruise’s character) killing a man he’s never met.
From there, the plot kicks into high gear. Cruise is chased across the future landscape by his old teammates in spectacular fashion. He undergoes some radical surgery (keep your eyes shut if you have a weak stomach) in order to avoid the police and fights his way back into his old headquarters. Once there, he kidnaps one of the “Pre-Cogs” to force her into revealing if he can change her vision. Her answer and his response are the crux of the movie.
There are a couple of small gaps in the plot. Then there is that one large thing that you have to ignore, but it’s okay -- almost all science-fiction/action/adventure movies have at least one hole in the story. And the ones in this movie are not so big that they kill the momentum that the story builds.
The science-fiction gadgets were great. Cars that slide up and down the sides of skyscrapers are a tad far-fetched, but cell phones no bigger than earpieces are not that much of a stretch. Optical scanners every fifty feet and billboards that customize themselves as people pass by are pretty cool stuff. Plus it’s nice to know that Guinness beer and the GAP will still be around in two generations. The electronic white board with real drop-and-drag features is something that the computer nerds in your circle will be dreaming about for days.
Overall, Minority Report isn’t a timeless classic of American cinema. But for two hours’ worth of entertainment, it’s a great movie. I recommend that you spend part of your Nights and Weekends watching it.
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