Steven Spielberg
Minority Report

THE REVIEW

Minority Report is yet another film based on a (short) story by Philip K. Dick, with its adaptation to the big screen entrusted to Steven Spielberg.

The film, set in Washington in 2054, focuses on the activities of Precrime, which manages to prevent future, and therefore yet to be committed, murders thanks to the precognitive abilities of three "gifted" beings. Everything seems to be going well until the head of Precrime himself, John Anderton (Tom Cruise), is accused of a murder and must begin a race against time to discover who seems to be trying to frame him.

Minority Report touches on themes that are not new but always of considerable interest such as free will: is it right to arrest people who have committed no crime and therefore condemn them just for the intention? Where is the line between self-defense and freedom of choice? Anderton himself will have doubts about the system he had defended but which turns against him, although initially favorable to Precrime, used almost to redeem his guilt due to the disappearance of his son Sean years before.

Technically the film is impeccable: Spielberg is undoubtedly a capable director, but this work of his also benefits from excellent editing and a beautiful cinematography that often focuses on cold tones giving the film the look of a classic noir but, of course, futuristic. There are also nods to illustrious colleagues, and thoughts immediately go to the eye transplant scene that very much recalls the "Ludovico" treatment from A Clockwork Orange, and it also reproduces the situation of a man unjustly hunted (or not?) by the system reminiscent of Hitchcock.

Actors play their parts well, Cruise, in fact, does well, as does Colin Farrell, the one who hunts down Anderton, and especially the veteran Max Von Sydow, the creator of Precrime.

Ultimately, a great film, whether seen as pure entertainment (the action scenes are abundant and there's even a small dose of suspense) or used for some deeper reflection. Personally, the best Spielberg of the early 2000s (Indy permitting ....)

The rating would be 4.5