“If there’s a flaw, its human.”

So says Det. Danny Witwer (Colin Farrell), investigating the functionality, reliability and competency of an aftertime, revolutionary police department in Steven Spielberg’s riveting post-modern, intellectual action thriller Minority Report. Towering above over-loaded futuristic films of the past, this somewhat flawed yet auspiciously superior musing on our inevitable coming into futuristic times is appropriately dark without losing its fun. This quintessential sci-fi adventure employs and dissects the work of Philip K. Dick, coupled with a feel similar to that of Asimov, Bradbury and Spielberg’s own previous A.I. Further appealing is that the ever-present Spielberg sentimentality is less gooey, more realistic and much subtler. And surprising us even more is Minority Report as a stimulating intellectual study of an (imperfect) system, as it crosses moral and ethical boundaries. While some may argue Spielberg is too indifferent to the fastidious nature of the material and is hasty in swaying viewers to make decisions over the material instead of allowing freethinking, actually the movie is consistently fascinating and is redeemed in that it can boldly pose questions under the guise of a summer blockbuster.

Unconcerned with any simple, summer blockbuster label, Minority Report defies conventional mainstream film beliefs, exploring the flaws of its proposed system, and to an extent the flaws of mankind. Making amazing use of its premise, thoroughly well-executed, Minority Report is as viscerally enthralling as it is intellectually, perhaps more so. Its slick, metallic aura is masterfully accompanied by sweeping, if over-shadowed, acting with its satisfying showcase of emotion and depth, its awe is inspired further by Williams’ score. Visually the film is a feast, flowing with eerily livid blues and grays, Janusz Kaminski’s knack of dreary and jarring cinematography captures a surreal, and almost ethereal, atmosphere. This atmosphere is fantastically adorned with breathtaking, cold, metropolis scenery and populated with, the now usual but nevertheless, amazing futuristic wonders (however, surprisingly flying cars are not present). Its sprawling epic scope plays, at first, like an operatic urban thriller, reminiscent of Blade Runner, but soon the scope is broadened, reveling in a potent labyrinthine conspiracy mystery.

Performing justice to the brilliantly jittery and appropriately dark visual majesty, essentially Minority Report’s unique premise is a paradoxical rumination on P.K. Dickian philosophy as it explores pre-destination, its consequences and the moral consequences. The story’s foundation is a suggestion; that in the near future an advanced technology is developed to help authorities prevent murders before they occur. The experimental and unorthodox means of capture is a highly controversial, mostly in that the “criminal” hasn’t done anything wrong, yet. But the firm justifies their cause with statements like “The fact that you prevented it from happening doesn’’t change the fact that it was going to happen.” However, one can’t help but conclude that this may be over presumptuous or a particularly unclear way of preventing crime. The film takes these into account and makes no concretely definite stance for either, although, it has some strong leanings against the system’s purpose.

In 2054, the head of the Washington D.C. area, experimental Pre-Crime unit is Lamar Burgess (Max von Sydow, still excellent) who stands on the firm belief that the department is fully competent and justified, along with his second in command and chief detective, the brooding John Anderton (Tom Cruise, in fine form). Opening with the obligatory but amazing example of the system at work, in which Anderton stops a jealous husband from killing his wife and her secret lover. From there Anderton explains how the actual system works to the DA’s investigating detective Danny Witwer (Farrell) who Anderton suspects to be a sniveling and corrupt weasel. Apparently the process works as thus: three “Pre-Cogs” (who were children of addicts of a fictional, future drug) lie in a pool of nourishing fluids to enhance their predicting capabilities, which are images of an imminent murder that are transferred from their minds to the Pre-Crime computer system. Then two wooden, colored balls are produced with the victim(s) and perpetrator(s) names, while the detectives decipher the images to learn the whereabouts of the impending murder. And naturally pre-meditated crimes are much easier to prevent because they’re foreseen earlier than murders of passion, and murders are, of course, only foreseen because of the brutal and traumatic nature of the crime. These visionary, conjured images are the result of the drug addiction and therefore require some belief in unconventional wonderment.

Everything is fine until images produced are of Anderton himself, shown killing a mysterious man named Leo Crow, whom he’s never heard of, while surrounded by the unfamiliar. Naturally Anderton runs for the door, hoping to escape and to perhaps beat his own system by proving his innocence. After daring and thrilling chases Anderton is able to fit piece by piece of a massive and elaborate puzzle that somehow has evolved into a massive conspiracy against him. He realizes that there is much more to a secret file that seems to have been purposely hidden and that perhaps this may have something to do with a cover-up and his fugitive state. It becomes apparent that this foreseen destiny may have something to do with the death of his son years ago, his beloved system, and even someone on the inside.

Minority Report is the thrilling masterwork of an emperor of cinema (although at times overrated); a gift from a true defining of the magic our (now) notorious Hollywood scene rarely puts out. Its capabilities to survive as a thriller and a drama are fused with spellbinding camera work and surprisingly intense storytelling. The thriller element never undermines its dramatic sense of emotion and subtle difference, puncturing out yet another fine piece of touching humanity from Spielberg. And as non-intellectual as Spielberg may be, he can masterfully tell an occasionally intellectually fascinating story delving into the fundamental aspects of being a human being and his authority on Earth. Here, Spielberg can handle the material with confidence and sublime direction, keeping in touch with the balance of his strictly visceral evocations and Dick’s cerebral examinations.

Minority Report is an unconventional and earthy yet gloomy ambient meditation of how a system of impregnable and impeccable forces can succumb to its shortcomings as a device wrought by flawed humans. The movie is a triumph because of its astounding human elements, not only do we feel intensely for the protagonist but also because this protagonist can actually think for himself, is flawed, and willingly searches his soul. Its acerbically complex and scathing storytelling gloriously unfolds on the cusps of the plot but is brilliantly revealing, underneath, in the human condition, the perception of society and human mechanics. And as Witwer explains at the height of the film’s intellectual display, “If there’s a flaw, its human.” He understands that no matter the perfection of the system the chances are too great of a mistake because with human nature there will inherently be flaws and the threat of flaws can’t be risked with an uncertain system of such magnitude.

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