Minority Report

Movie Name: Minority Report

Year of Release: 2002

Director: Steven Spielberg

Stars: Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, Max Von Sydow, Kathryn Morris, Lois Smith, Tim Blake Nelson, Mike Binder, Peter Stormare, Steve Harris, Neal McDonough, Patrick Kilpatrick, Jessica Capshaw, Daniel London, Arye Gross, Ashley Crow

Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 9
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Synopsis:

Following the beautiful "A.I.", director Steven Spielberg tackled another futuristic story, this time around with the adaptation of another Philip K. Dick short story. The film takes place in the near future, where technology has permeated across every aspect of society. The film introduces us to an experimental law enforcement project in Washington D.C., where for the first time  ever the concept of pre-cognition is being used to prevent crimes from occurring. These precogs are three individuals who have the ability to see into the future, and therefore predict violent crimes, allowing the police the ability to prevent crimes even before they occur. This division is run by chief John Anderton, a hard working man who suffered the dramatic loss of his son, and whose personal life crumbled as a result of that. When Pre-Crime is about to be debated, and expand to a national level, a striking occurrence comes into play that may disrupt everything that makes this project so special.
"Minority Report" is one of Steven Spielberg's best films to this day. It perfectly marries a taut and well written screenplay, with a combination of style, production design and visual effects that is expertly put together. Unlike some of his other forays into Science-Fiction, "Minority Report" actually tries to stay grounded and build bridges to how reality can effectively progress, and questions ethics and politics in ways that are intelligently showcased without being judgmental. It's also a film where there are no perfect archetypes in the main characters - the hero is flawed and humane, the same going for the antagonists. It's also a testament to its impact, that this film influenced so many of the science fiction features that have since come out. Tom Cruise is perfectly cast in the lead role, allowing him to play a conflicted man on the run, with a great cast rounding up his efforts, particularly Samantha Morton, Max Von Sydow and Lois Smith. The cinematography from Janusz Kaminski is stunning as is the score from John Williams. A fantastic film from a brilliant film maker.