2h 25m
Director: Steven Spielberg

Because it's based on a Philip K. Dick novella called, 'The Minority Report' you already know you're in for a good bit of sci-fi.

We are asked to consider the concept of precrime. Knowledge of a future crime that the police receive which allows them to arrest an offender in advance of the offense. In 2054 they've rolled it out and crime is at a record low.

The information about the future crime comes from a hive mind of 3 clairvoyants called precogs. Through the course of the narrative we discover that occasionally, the images captured from the precogs don't all match and this is called a minority report. when John uncovers the notion of a minority report, he realises that some of the people he's imprisoned may not have been guilty. This also raises the question, 'if someone has knowledge of the future, can they change it?'. In other words, is pre-determination a thing or do we have choice? The film does go on to answer this.

John is suddenly framed for a murder he can't imagine committing and he is flagged for precrime arrest. A chase ensues.

I especially like the scene where John and Danny are tustling inside a half made vehicle on a manufacturing line, Danny escapes from the vehicle leaving John inside to dodge the robotic arms that are continuing the build process. We expect to see that John has been killed but when the car emerges from the process complete we see that John is still inside and he simply drives away. Arguably, one of the coolest escapes in sci-fi. Here's the scene (Warning - cool): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7omoVzuynmE

There is a later scene where John is smuggling Agatha across the city and she provides him with clairvoyant information which helps them to evade capture. The position of some balloons, leaving some change and taking an umbrella, it's a brilliant scene.

Peter Stormare always does a very good psycho and he does a superb job as the slightly deranged eye surgeon John uses to replace his eyes. I always forget Peter Stormare's name so I remember it as: 'Pete Stormare, he's got a thousand yard stare!' - you'll see what I mean if you don't know who I'm talking about...

Lois Smith is in a scene where she does a very good version of the oracle from The Matrix but creepier!

We eventually discover that Lamar Burgess (Max von Sydow) has used the minority report to hide the murder of Anne Lively (Agatha the precogs mother) which all leads us to the climax of the movie where we see Lamar and John meeting at the top of a building, Lamar with gun in hand. The dilemma, if he shoots John then precrime arrives, imprisons him but precrime works so his legacy continues - if he doesn't shoot John then precrime will arrive but there'll be no murder so precrime will have failed. I'll let you enjoy the ending!

Did I mention it's directed by Spielberg so it's cinematically superb. Sometimes, I watch a Spielberg movie and find myself noticing that the shots seem a bit by the book. I have to remind myself that he wrote some of that book which is probably why!

Overall, an amazing film that tackles some quite complex subject matter with relative ease which I definitely recommend!



Trailer: