Future Perfect..???. Review on Minority Report Movie

Disclaimer: I had decided to take a break from writing on movies, when I suggested this to angel009, she said “Yes, wait until you see Minority Report or Devdass befor you write the next one”. I have taken her advice to heart. So don’t blame me!!!

I have known John for six years now; right from the time he lost his son (to a kidnaper who later killed him). His wife had left him (not because she did not love him, but because his presence reminded her of the kid they had lost, as I later found out). I feel for him; though he has not lost an ounce of his brilliance, he is now addicted to drugs and the virtual reality gadgets through which he has kept his son (or at least his images) alive. Oh yes I forgot to tell you that the year 2054, the world has made many a scientific leaps in the last 53 years.

Washington now boasts of a “Pre-Crime” department and did I tell you than John heads it, rather admirably at that. The department senses crimes that are going to be committed in the future and makes preventive arrests. In the heart of this department are the “Pre-Cogs” three mutant human beings with the ability to see the future, who are suspended in amniotic fluid, whose brain waves are recorded to sense the future events. You may wonder if this is possible, believe me it is I have seen it with my own eyes. The Pre-Crime department is not only thing that’s happened in last half century. You have cars (non-polluting I may remind you) that slide down along the high rises and take you on to the highways. Yes one thing has not changed and that is the fact that advertisements keep bombarding you even today…but with a difference. You see only what you want to see. Everything has been taken over by the digital revolution. Once your retinal code is identified (which is a necessary security check at most points you pass through on a day to day basis); your consumer behavioral pattern is analyzed and only advertisements of products you have an interest in are displayed on the walls in the mall, corridors of your office, subways, why even in the newspapers.

Now coming back to John, he is a respected Pre-Crime Officer. He completely believes in the system he has established, since he decided to join the department at the behest of Mr. Burgess (who developed the concept), so that no other person will have to suffer like he did when he lost his kid. In fact John is extremely proud of the department. But he does not like the interference from the Justice Department in the form of Danny (who is too nosey and arrogant for my own liking, if you ask me). Danny though doing his duty in trying to verify if “Pre-Crime” is actually as fool proof a system as its perpetrators claim it to be, seems bent on proving John wrong.

Things were as usual that day when John reported for work. During his regular exercise of sensing the future evils, John is shocked to see himself on the virtual screen, labeled as the next killer (according to the Pre-Cogs he will be murdering a complete stranger, in 36 hours from now). Knowing John as I do, I know he wouldn’t even hurt a fly, but by John’s own admission the “Pre-Cogs” have never failed in their predictions….at least that’s what John thinks. With his own department against him and he is on the run. Believe me his chances of escaping them are negligible. What with all the sophisticated security checks and computer aided gadgetry that they possess. They can even stall his car, trace him down in matter of seconds (remember those retinal checks at various points)…well just as I said that probably I should suggest to him to get a retinal transplant by one of those illegal doctors working in shady make shift clinics.

But even before I could have thought about it, John does exactly that. He even goes one step further and breaks into his own department and gets away with the best of the three Pre-Cogs (Agatha). But does that help him escape a department which is working day and night to nail him down using the fool proof mechanisms established by John (how ironical) himself. Or may be in this irony lies the clue to John’s future, he knows the system like the back of his palm… may be he can beat it… will he… could the Pre-Cogs have been wrong, is there a conspiracy theory that surrounds the pre-crime department, could John have been set up or is there a circumstance under which John can actually commit a murder like say what would he do if he came across the man who was responsible for his son’s kidnapping and eventual death..?? Well that’s for you to find out…and how do you do that, watch MINORITY REPORT…its John’s story!!!

Credits: With due respect to members ho have found movies like Jurassic Park and The Lost World impressive, I did not like them one bit. But with this one, director Steven Spielberg has got me. The plot which is based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, has been wonderfully adapted to screen by writers Jon Cohen, Scott Frank. Tom Cruise (John Anderton) leads a pack of actors who have given a wonderful account of themselves. His own role is played with measured assurance. The ones who impressed me are Collin Farrell(Danny Witwer, from the justice department), Samantha Morton (Agatha, one of the Pre-Cogs) and Max Von Sydow (Burgess the person who is John’s boss at Pre-Crime). The movie is brilliantly photographed by Janusz Kamiski and edited by Michael Kahn. Two thumbs up to SFX supervisor Scott Farrar.

Running time: 144 minutes

Rating: PG 13 (Parental guidance required)

Opinion: “Mind-boggling” is the word I would chose if I had to describe this one in a word. This is not one of those perfect pictures without any flaws.The narration is not gripping at all times. The charcters in the movie may have advertisements tailormade for their requirements, but we as viewers are exposed to quite a few without taking into account our considerations...But all I will do with the flaws is taking off one of the stars of the five that am allowed to give (that explains the four stars).

The movie is not just about graphics and special effects (though the ones that have been incorporated do transport you to a World that most of us might not live to see… I am sure such World will come into being somewhere in future). There are several interesting and intelligent moments in the movie. The sequence in which John is trying to escape his own colleagues who are on his trail with the help of Agatha’s precognitive abilities is one such. The movie does open up a debate as to how reliable technology can be; maybe it also suggests that technology is only as perfect as the people who are entrusted with it. What bothered me most me most about the movie however was the fact that if such a technology can come into place, then will it be morally correct to arrest someone for a crime he/she has not yet committed… this might just be taking the adage “prevention is better than cure” beyond the realms of acceptability….OR is it….You may join the debate in the comments section!!!