Rating- * * * * * (5/5)
Ever since I began my endeavor into understanding the art of film, I have found it harder and harder to watch a movie without being analytical and somewhat detached from the actual story of the film. I observe the film from an outside perspective as just a film and nothing more, looking for what the filmmakers did right and what they did wrong. It can get a little tedious and empty but it’s my way of admiring a piece of work. But from the earliest scenes of Minority Report I knew that I wouldn’t be able to look at it from my normal analytical perspective. I was just too immersed in the story to think for even one second that it was a film; for those two-odd hours my whole world was on the screen in front of me. There was no theater, no audience, no outside influences. Just an incredibly involving, wonderfully intriguing murder mystery that happens to be set 52 years in the future. Unlike Star Wars- Episode II or The Matrix, this film is centered around a story, not the science-fiction world in which it takes place. The concepts of a Pre-Crime Department and vertical highways and robotic spiders are all very interesting, but they are merely incidental to the real subject of the film. Over the past two decades Steven Spielberg has shown himself to be a true master of special effects in film while still being able to maintain a credible, entertaining and interesting plot. Minority Report could be the greatest example of Spielberg’s mastery yet and it brings back all of the respect I have lost for him over the past few years or so. Tom Cruise continues his streak of great performances in great roles in this film (his recent record includes Jerry Maguire, Magnolia, Vanilla Sky) and his performance as a wrongfully accused cop drives the film and keeps the audience enthralled in the twisting and turning of the labyrinthine plot. The other characters are well-devised and fleshed-out and are portrayed very well by the entire cast, particularly by blank who plays the “precog” Agatha and by blank who plays Cruise’s benevolent superior who may have ulterior motives. Many critics have described the film as a kind of post-modern film noir, which seems like a very adequate description to me. There are constant twists and turns in the plot, the villain is never really who you think it is, and the visual style is very bland and oppressive. Most film noir is in black and white but Spielberg uses bluish grays and white, which has a similar affect but has a more realistic look in the special effects sequences than black and white would. We see a future that is not nearly as grim as other sci-fi stories but a world in which mankind has gone too far in trying to create a perfect world. This is by far the best film I’ve seen this summer as of yet, and the first one I’ve seen that may have a realistic shot at an Oscar. It may not be very deep or artsy but it is a truly great piece of cinema and I believe it will be remembered as a classic for many years to come.