I was surprised to find that Phillip K Dick (Blade
Runner) is credited with the original story concept for this. Spielberg,
of course, has played with the basics and turned it into a high-class
Hollywood blockbuster.
The concept is a little complex. Plugged in to
the brain waves of three "precognitives" a new policing department - Precrime
- can accurately predict a murder before the victim or even, in some cases,
the perpetrator, knows about it.
Obviously, violent death in the city of Washington
DC is at an all-time low. That a police force can storm the crime scene
and arrest the murderer before he or she commits the crime is one factor,
with that obvious deterrent, even futility, of planning a killing also
adding to the stats.
But there are still those who would try. Those
being mostly in the crime-of-passion bracket - the hubby home unexpectedly
from work to find his wife unfaithful. No time to plan - just pick up
the nearest weapon and do the b*!*#.
Even these, though, can be predicted, albeit with
a much tighter timeframe for the elite and unusual police force.
With violent death in DC down by almost 100 per
cent, one would expect such a system to be adopted across the country,
if not the world. And indeed, with the Washington experiment such a resounding
success, the rest of the US is preparing to vote on expansion. Things
get a little complicated at this stage (as you'd expect).
With success comes skepticism - the skepticism
of a federal administration about to be asked to spend billions of dollars
on a totally new and somewhat wacky system. Closer scrutiny is warranted.
Just about now, the worst possible thing happens
- the precogs foresee none other than chief of Precrime, Detective John
Anderton (Cruise), commit murder in cold blood. With no way to prove he
didn't do it (because he didn't do it -- yet - and not for another 36
hours), Anderton must go on the run and buy enough time to prove his innocence
- 36 hours should do it.
But it's not easy staying on the lamb when omnipresent
retinal scans can track his every movement. "Hello John Anderton, would
you like to try the new Lexus?" "Hi John Anderton, you look like you could
use a holiday" advertising billboards enthuse as he walks by.
There's only one solution. A new set of eyes.
I can't go on much further without spoiling some
crucial plot elements, so I won't. The special effects are brilliant as
you would expect from Spielberg.
The setting, in 2054, on the other hand, is a
little hard to swallow. Perhaps when Dick penned the original, when 2054
was 80 or so years off and people then were predicting weird and wonderful
things for even 2000, it might have been more plausible. But
now in 2002 and only 50ish years short - a bit much.
At roughly two and a half hours long, Minority
Report never seems to be a drag, however. The plot is involved and
the action comes thick and fast.
The big drawback for me, however, was that I just
didn't buy the ending. I can't discuss the detail here and spoil it for
you, but when or if you see it, think about the bad guy's options philosophically
for a minute. He chose a pointless option, I think.
And then there was the obligatory Hollywood ending
- everything neatly packaged with all loose ends tied off in a puerile
two-minute narrative.
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