Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Not everyone thinks it’s a great film, but I’d be surprised if they did. I will say that there seems to be great enthusiasm for it in many cases, and I’m definitely dying to see if Spielberg has made something really special here.
Check this review out:
Greetings. Leo Crowe here. I’m a long time visitor, first time contributor. I had the privilege of attending a screening of MINORITY REPORT today. And all I can say is WOW! This is THE MATRIX of 2002!! After the highly disappointing (in my opinion) “Artificial Intelligence”, Spielberg is back on track!
It has been a pretty dreadful year at the movies so far. I was excited for “Spider-man”. Didn’t like it. I was excited for “Episode 2”. Didn’t like it. I was excited for “Windtalkers”. Didn’t like it. I was excited about “The Bourne Identity”. Didn’t like it. “Scorpion King”, “Bad Company”, “Scooby-Doo”, all slop. In fact, the only movies I’ve seen this year that I would watch again are “Insomnia” and “Blade 2”. Here are a few examples of the movies that I respond to so that you may get a better idea of my tastes in films. My favorite movies of 2001 were “Memento”, “Moulin Rouge!”, “Amelie”, “Donnie Darko”, “The Royal Tenenbaums”. My favorite movies of 2000 were: “Requiem for a Dream”, “Cast Away”, “Almost Famous”, “Virgin Suicides”, “The Cell”. My favorite movies of 1999 were: “Election”, “Any Given Sunday”, “The Matrix”, “Fight Club”, “Three Kings”. I would also like to mention that I am NOT a fan of “Blade Runner”. (I think it is slow-moving and boring.) If you agree with some of my tastes, you may get a better idea of my thoughts on MINORITY REPORT. If you don’t like the movies that I like, oh well, I saw MINORITY REPORT and you didn’t.
MINORITY REPORT has an opening that will grip the audience right away and never lets up. It’s thrilling and exciting from the very beginning right until the very end. It’s roller-coaster ride. It’s a masterpiece. MINORITY REPORT is the kind of movie that’s so good, that you, like me, may just sit there in disbelief. I was expecting the movie to start to slow down, but it just doesn’t happen. What’s good about the movie? Everything. The direction is tight, the cinematography is jaw dropping, the editing is phenomenal, and the screenplay is fantastic! I’m predicting Oscar nominations for Cinematography, Visual Effects, Editing, Screenplay and maybe picture and director. (Hard to tell how Academy Voters will react.) But, I also predict that 80-85% of critics will like it. Indeed, I honestly don’t know how anyone could not like this movie!
******************SPOILER ALERT*******************
MINORITY REPORT opens with random glimpses of a murder. The footage is heavily edited with lots of quick cuts, some footage is sped up, and other footage is in slo-mo. Some of the footage is also shown in reverse. (The audience is already hooked at this point.) We then find three “pre-cogs” (psychic-like) people with a gift for seeing murders that will occur. The pre-cogs, are kept in a pool of water and are hooked up with headgear that can record their predictions. When the “pre-cogs” get a vision of murder, the name of the victim and of the perpetrator are recorded. Lasers etch the peoples’ names on a wooden ball (It cannot be duplicated this way). Tom Cruise (John Anderton) and other pre-crime officers grab the ball when it comes down a coiled tube and begin to review the recorded images from the “pre-cogs”. This is one of my favorite scenes of the film as John Anderton (Cruise) stands in front of a clear window and begins pulling the holographic images across the screen. With the movement of his hands (also wearing special gloves) Anderton can quickly look at the footage in various ways. For example, by spinning his hand he can rewind or fast forward, he can also enlarge footage to see small details to help find out where the murder will take place. Soon, Anderton and the men have figured out, more or less, where the murder they’re watching will take place and rush to get to the crime scene before the crime occurs. (Like, I said, it’s pretty non-stop!)
Colin Farrell shows up as a detective looking for a flaw in the system. (Before pre-crime is nationalized, the government wants to know that it really is perfect.) We also learn that Anderton is grieving over the loss of his family, but we’re not quite sure of the what, how and why. We soon learn through a well done commercial that plays in the background, that in the years that pre-crime has been instated in Washington, D.C., there have been zero murders in the capitol city. The system is never wrong.
Soon, Anderton, himself finds that his name is on one of the wooden balls. He is in shock because he doesn’t even know the person who he is supposed to kill within 36 hours. He believes that he is being set-up and so he runs. Everybody runs.
For the rest of the film, Anderton is trying to clear his name while trying to avoid arrest. There is an excellent car chase scene and a very good fight scene between Anderton and his fellow officers who have the advantage of having rocket packs. There are also spiders who scan peoples’ retinas looking for suspects. Oh what will John Anderton do that his eyes are being scanned anywhere and everywhere that he goes?!
The title is a little difficult to explain but I’ll try. A “Minority Report” is the images collected from one of the pre-cogs that the other two disagree with. It is rare, but sometimes, one of the pre-cogs (they function as one essentially) interpret the events differently, but majority rules and the minority report is destroyed. Or is it? Could Anderton have a minority report? If so how can he get hold of it?
**********REAL REAL SPOILERS START HERE (I urge you not to read….you’ve been warned)*************
Anderton is told that the minority report is kept within one of the pre-cogs’ minds, always the smartest one. “Whose mind?” One of the funniest lines of the film: (matter of factly) “The Female’s” (the other two pre-cogs are male). Anderton must break back into the Pre-Crime headquarters and somehow get the minority report from the mind of the female pre-cog (Agatha). His eyes are no good, so he has an operation done on the street. Yes, he has his eyes swapped out, but keeps his in a bag so that he can use them when entering certain otherwise restricted areas. There are some very good scenes where Anderton has taken Agatha out of Pre-Crime headquarters. She knows the future, so she can help him avoid being caught by officers. One scene set in a mall has Agatha telling Anderton to wait while officers close in. The suspense builds as she tells him to wait for the balloon man. Sure enough, just as the officers arrive and look out into the crowded mall, Anderton and Agatha are blocked from their sight by a vendor with a giant bunch of balloons! She also insists he steal an umbrella which also pays off. Don’t make me tell you anymore, just go see it!! P.S. Don’t let other reviewers on this site sway your decision to see this movie. Yes, the eyeballs rolling was a bit jarring, but it works. And as far as Anderton being able to access various security points with his eyes even though he’s a fugitive being tracked, Pre-Crime officers simply did not think he would be coming back. They never had one of their own ever become a fugitve, there was no policy about how to change codes if one of the officers ever becomes a felon. Better yet, the movie’s so dense and packed with great stuff, you let little stuff like that go. I highly doubt this will ruin anyone’s enjoyment of this movie.
***************END SPOILER ALERT***************
What happens next I will not reveal. The movie is as exciting as movies get. It is never dull or boring. At 2 hours and 26 minutes, I didn’t want it to end. It will keep you guessing and will consistently surprise you.
The cast does a great job, especially Tom Cruise and Samantha Morton. Colin Farrell and Max Von Sydow are good as well. Peter Stormare is good as always as the shady eye doctor, and Tim Blake Nelson creates another memorable character out of thin air.
To answer a few questions, yes, you can see Cameron Crowe on the subway reading a newspaper, but Cameron Diaz is barely visible (I would never know it was her, if I hadn’t been told. You simply only see her eyes and her hair). The movie’s aspect ration is indeed anamorphic 2.35:1. John Williams score is excellent.
Yes, there is a “Daredevil” trailer attached. It’s a teaser, but surprisingly, there’s a good amount of action footage already in the can. (It looks okay, I guess, but I think the costume looks goofy, like maroon leather (!) plus, I don’t like Ben Affleck at all.). There is also a teaser for “Solaris” (“From James Cameron and Steven Soderbergh”) in which a space station (?) moves across the outer space. (Also, a trailer for “Swimfan”. Blahaha! Most Unintentionally funny trailer of the year!)
What’s surprising about MINORITY is how it was supposedly rushed into production before the threatened actors’ strike. While watching the film, I was amazed at the detail. Obviously, Spielberg had been planning on doing this for a while, but everything is just so perfect. Which is hard to imagine, because “Episode 2” was so lousy and supposedly Lucas had been working on that story for 25 years or whatever. Even the effects in MINORITY REPORT, while not as plentiful, blow the effects from “Episode 2” away.
If you think I’m crediting Spielberg too much, know this, I think half of Spielberg’s films are overrated including “Jaws”, “Close Encounters”, “E.T.”. I think “A.I.” is a mess and so is “Hook” and “Amistad”. (I prefer Zemeckis actually.) However, I do like “Saving Private Ryan”, “Jurassic Park” and “Indiana Jones and Last Crusade” (“Raiders is a little to slow at spots, Temple of Doom” is just goofy). What’s his best film? In terms of pure cinema, enjoyment factor, excitement and technique, I vote…MINORITY REPORT. It filled with great ideas and possibilities. The pacing is exhausting. It does everything right and makes all the right moves. Spielberg is confident and has regained his ability to have his hand on his audiences’ pulses. He delivers here big time and we owe it to him to make this a big hit! MINORITY REPORT is without a doubt the movie of the summer, if not the year!!!
Believe me, everyone will be talking about MINORITY REPORT on Monday. It may not gross $56 mill, but it will have people lined up all summer. It’s that good. I already have tickets to see it again on Wednesday night.
Leo Crowe
(out)
Or this one:
Hi Harry,
Caught a press screening of Minority Report this morning and thought I might as well send in my views on it.
The movie is very much a companion piece to last summer's A.I., also done by Spielberg and the gang (John Williams, Janusz Kaminski, et al.). The two movies share a similar atmosphere, right down to the atonal musical score and beautiful, high key cinematography.
Comparisons can also be drawn between Minority Report and Bladerunner, and not just because they are both based on Philip K. Dick stories. Harrison Ford and Tom Cruise could have easily been playing the same character - motivations, etc. are identical.
Though I enjoyed the film, I was a bit let down by a few elements of the script. Tom Cruise's character; John Anderton, wasn't developed as strongly as he should have been, and for the most part we only see one side of him. He's so instantly likeable and perfect from the onset, and comes out of the picture the exact same way - no character arc and subsequently it's hard to sympathize with him. I wasn't as involved as I would have liked to have been.
The major twist can be seen coming from a mile away and, coming from me, that's saying something. I never see plot twists coming. Further, Spielberg ties everything together almost too perfectly at the end. We have the obligatory happy ending, with everything resolving itself as it should. For those of you who disliked the ending to A.I. - you'll love Minority Report's. For the rest of us, you'll be let down.
On the other hand, the effects and general atmosphere were stunning. This is one of the most beautifully shot films I've ever seen. Kaminiski WILL get an Oscar for this, mark my words. I loved the view of the future and was thoroughly entertained most of the way through. So what if it's a bit anticlimactic? It's still a fun thrill ride.
Though A.I. is a much better film (I can't help but compare the two, heheh), this will probably find a bigger audience and it's head and shoulders above most summer popcorn movies.
Thought I might as well bang off a short review. If you can use it, great, if not, ah well.
Oh oh - just remembered why I wanted to write this review. There is a moment in the movie where Tom Cruise gets angry at a box of cereal that is the absolute funniest thing in the world to see. Watch the movie if only for that.
Call me -
The Elusive Dogcow
And remember to drink your milk, eat your greens, and stay in school. Otherwise, Mr. T WILL take pity on you.
Or, perhaps, this next one:
Hey Harry!
How you doing?
Your old pal ‘Triple B’ here, reporting from London’s Leicester square. If you remember, I sent you a review of Harry Potter late last year, and now I’m back with a brief word on Minority Report!
I TOO WAS AT THE London ‘Multi-Media’ screening on Sunday morning, along with my partner in crime ‘Little J’ (The KING of preview tickets!).
I gotta’ tell you Harry, I’ve been looking forward to this one for a long time now. Unlike seemingly the majority of audiences the world over, I fell in love with A.I. Hell, I actually thought it to be the best Spielberg movie yet, and certainly a classic for the ages.
In my opinion it showed an unparalleled technical mastery, that few directors can hope to match, along with a soul, and humanity that critics seemed to relish in ridiculing. To this day I find it deeply sad that any piece of art that chooses to display such a sense of warmth and emotion, can be received with such scornful cynicism. A.I truly touched me, in a way that few films have ever managed to do, and remains a true showcase for one of the worlds most gifted filmmakers.
It was with baited breath then, that I readied myself for Minority report. The great thing about early screenings such as these, are that one has very little idea of what to expect. Sure, I could have read the reams of spoilers online, but I chose to steer clear, and surprise myself. Sadly, by the time a movie hits theatres these days, the sheer mass of reviews, TV ads, and hype, ensures that most of a movies secrets are laid out for all to see (Attack of the Clones, and Spiderman are two very obvious examples).
In my opinion, against all odds, Spielberg has followed up A.I, with another very adult, very cool, and sublimely imaginative piece of state of the art, awe inspiring Sci-fi. How the guy managed to churn this baby out so soon after A.I, is honestly a mystery to me. The sheer wealth of ideas, and startling imagery that must seer through the guys’ head is nothing short of astonishing.
Like the opinion of the last reviewer, Minority Report, is in truth little more than a futuristic Fugitive yarn. Part Blade Runner, part A.I, part film noir detective caper, but all Spielberg. Firstly the imagery of Spielberg’s 2054. So many Hollywood directors treat CGI like a kid with a chainsaw. A hell of a lot of power, but no real idea of how to control it. Spielberg is oh so different. He chooses to use CGI as it should be used, as an effective means of delivering the story. Rarely gratuitous, but always with panache, the CGI used in Minority Report is much like that of AI. Simply a different standard to what we’ve become accustomed to.
Performances are mostly excellent. Cruise sizzles in the role of Anderson, and continues to prove that he can not only look the perfect hero, but also display an unusually wide range of emotions, that many of Hollywood’s ‘A list’ action stars still disappointingly fail to deliver. His remorse over his missing son Sean is a typical Speilberg tear jerking plot point, but thanks to Cruise’s delivery, it rarely feels hokey or out of place. Colin Farrell continues to impress as one of Hollywood’s most reliable actors, as he chews up the scenery with perfect malice and ill intent, and Max Von Sydow, perfectly cast as the old master, shows just what a screen legend he really is. Beautiful delivery.
Granted some of the character development falls a little short, but this is Tom’s movie, and we are rarely given an opportunity to forget it. Nor should we, as he manages to move the epic two and a half hour behemoth along with great enthusiasm and excitement.
Unlike the previous reviewer, I had no real problem with the humour. I disagree that it ever falls in to the boundary of outright slapstick. Granted, the comic relief may not be to everyone’s taste, but Spielberg is a master at delivering a touch of humour as a means of relaxing the audience, and Minority Report is no different. We must have each been in a different theatre, as everyone in the screening I attended, seemed to react perfectly to the gags.
I do however agree, that there are a couple of pretty serious plot holes that simply don’t make sense. In spirit of a spoiler free review, I won’t detail them now, but the previous review lists them, so go check em’ out if you want to ruin the movie for yourself (Needless to say I advise against it!).However, when you consider the subject matter of the movie itself, I forgave the movie of such shortcomings. Minority Report, like A.I before it, is an ideas movie. A concept movie rich in wonder, and imagination, delivered with great care and sophistication. To look to deeply in to the movies flaws, for me, kind of misses the point.
Blade Runner still shares many of the same problems, yet remains totally captivating thanks to the world it delivered us to. Minority Report for me exhibits the same depth of vision.
To tell more about Minority Report would ruin what few surprises you still don’t know. This reviewer certainly enjoyed himself, and I think that fans of serious Sci-Fi the world over will do as well. I have no doubt that critics will remain indifferent to the piece, and I have a suspicion that the box office will be less than stellar, in much the same way that A.I was received. I simply don’t think that many audiences will buy in to such a world, after gorging themselves on the sickeningly sweet, but rather unwholesome summer blockbusters. This will probably mean an end to such movies, at least for the time being, which for me would be a travesty of justice. Minority report stands as a perfect companion piece to AI. Great story. Great imagination. Great Director. Great film.
Until next time Harry, this is the Tubby Titan ‘Triple B’ signing off! Have a great Summer!
Is it Friday yet? Can I see the film now? Please? Someone? ANYONE?!
"Moriarty" out.
