Minority ReportOne essential paradox of the theory of precognition is that if one knows the future, can one change it? Is the future predetermined, or is it affected by course correction, like ripples on a pond? This is the philosophical question posed by Minority Report, in tandem with the sociological practicality of law enforcement. In essence, the police act after a crime is committed, and fundamentally are not designed to prevent crime. But when predicting crimes yet to happen is a reality, the nature of detection changes, and so to does the definition of a criminal.
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Adapted from a short story of the same name by one of the more philosophical of science fiction writers, Philip K. Dick, Minority Report is both an action movie, but also a mystery. What makes the story one of the more unusual mysteries is that the outcomes are generally previewed for the audience of the film prior to its execution; and yet, the film remains tense and unpredictable, as we theorize how one-time proponent, field leader, and PreCrime Captain John Anderton (Tom Cruise) becomes a killer. The functions of PreCrime are established early on with an example of a murder, a "crime of passion"--indicated by a "red ball"--predicted by the three "precogs", psychics tied to a series of computers, floating in a bath of proton milk, sending their dreams of violent futures into an augmented reality display from which John "scrubs" the image to seek clues as to the location of the crime. The prologue largely establishes the hows and whys of PreCrime's success, but immediately raises numerous questions about the legality and civil rights concerns inherent in a system which imprisons citizens who have not actually committed a crime. All of a sudden, what could be a simple plot which is also a glimpse into the future is a story which turns the mirror back on our own society, and our own balance of justice versus freedom, of prevention versus profiling. PreCrime flourishes because of its success rate; but if you consider the establishment of a techno-police state (although, more accurately, it is set in the District of Columbia) creating a society afraid to even think of murder, then all of a sudden the question of whether it is fascistic by nature is inevitable. And just as easily as one would counter that the behaviors which are eliminated are those associated with murder--as PreCrime is no secret--its very existence creates that hurdle in the minds of murderers--ostensibly the bad people--the greater question is whether that kind of negating protection is worth the cost.
Set in the year 2054, Minority Report explores the slippery slope of diminished civil liberties, of the Bill of Rights being subject to the will of efficiency, where just as the right to due process becomes outmoded, the idea of illegal search and seizure is next on the chopping block. Since the process is so unorthodox and runs the risk of illegal apprehension, the Department of Justice has appointed a sharp, but arrogant, young agent named Danny Witwer (Colin Farrell) to supervise, touting his federal authority to take charge of the experiment. When John finally crosses fists with Danny in the futuristic automobile factory, it is one of the most exciting and thrilling of action sequences, reminiscent of director Steven Spielberg's own Indiana Jones series. Spider-like robots which invade apartment complexes, armed with tasers, read the retinas of terrified denizens in their search for John, on the run from his former colleagues. John's own exodus from PreCrime follows his own discovery of a reading of his supposed murder of a man he has never met; and yet it is a "brown ball", determined to be a premeditated crime. John finds himself in the position where he immediately doubts the veracity of PreCrime on the merits of this absurd scenario. But what Minority Report does is allow the pieces of this inevitable plot to arrange themselves into a scene not unlike that viewed by the precogs. Even more ironic is that while John is the most fervent proponent of PreCrime--following the loss of his son six years prior at a swimming pool, shortly before PreCrime's inception--it is Danny who becomes fascinated by the resources and abilities available by virtue of the visions, and is put in charge of hunting John down when he runs. The dynamic is reminiscent of another futuristic film of fascistic social order, Logan's Run; both require the protagonist to get to the roots of the system they operate under, and effectively "uproot" the process to survive. This brings John in touch with Dr. Iris Hineman (Lois Smith), who created PreCrime alongside John's mentor, Lamar Burgess (Max von Sydow), who informs John of the potential of the eponymous "minority report", a prediction made by one precog--in this case the strongest, Agatha (Samantha Morton)--which displays an outcome different than the majority interpretation of the future, another possibility, and John's hope to clear his name of the crime he has yet to even commit.
The look of the future depicted in Minority Report is deliberate in both set design and lighting. The film appears extremely luminescent, but also stark, cold, even sterilized. This is a bureaucratic future with a pervading sense of antipathy, the future where the idea of imprisoning one who could pose a threat is just as acceptable as one who has done evil already. It is the kind of paranoid defensiveness which would be natural from one who has lost someone dear to crime, just as John has, and the appearance also mirrors his own despair; John is haunted by the past as well as the future. Washington D.C. some forty years in the future is also a realm where the existence of gravity-defying freeways, retinal-scanning advertisements at stores in the mall, and yes, even jetpacks are a reality. To a point, Minority Report has been called prescient with regards to some of this technology now in its infancy in our own time, with special attention toward augmented reality and holograms, hands-free headsets, and cloud computing. When Microsoft launched its video game peripheral, Kinect, its function was immediately identified as being both reminiscent of and inspired by the PreCrime computer featured in the film, as well as the bleeding edge computer, J.A.R.V.I.S. in the Marvel Comics' film, Iron Man. One similarity which comes to mind is also in the form of Google, which has made monumental strides to archive and document the world. Consider that the precogs' dreams of the murders resemble in part a documentary of the future, and how the navigation of these dreams by John is called "scrubbing"--just as a film editor moves the timeline to scrub the cursor to where he wants it to be--and the sense that even the multi-billion dollar computer company may have been inspired by this film about predicting the future is just a little bit unsettling. The idea that predictions for the future come from dreams implies that whatever the precogs are--albeit they are human--that they are able to tap into a kind of extra-sensory perception which exists in that semi-conscious state, not unlike the one the pre-criminals captured by John experience in their captivity, experiencing visions like those described by the warden, Gideon (Tim Blake Nelson). There is a theory that the last portion of the film might be a dream; it's possible...it's also possible that it does play out just as we see. That is the root of what makes Minority Report such a uniquely cerebral science fiction and action film: possibility.
Recommended for: Fans of a thrilling, sharp, and exciting action film in the future, which also miraculously manages to introduce a complex mystery while raising fundamental questions about government intervention and predetermination. To get all of that in just two and a half fast hours is a feat unto itself.
Set in the year 2054, Minority Report explores the slippery slope of diminished civil liberties, of the Bill of Rights being subject to the will of efficiency, where just as the right to due process becomes outmoded, the idea of illegal search and seizure is next on the chopping block. Since the process is so unorthodox and runs the risk of illegal apprehension, the Department of Justice has appointed a sharp, but arrogant, young agent named Danny Witwer (Colin Farrell) to supervise, touting his federal authority to take charge of the experiment. When John finally crosses fists with Danny in the futuristic automobile factory, it is one of the most exciting and thrilling of action sequences, reminiscent of director Steven Spielberg's own Indiana Jones series. Spider-like robots which invade apartment complexes, armed with tasers, read the retinas of terrified denizens in their search for John, on the run from his former colleagues. John's own exodus from PreCrime follows his own discovery of a reading of his supposed murder of a man he has never met; and yet it is a "brown ball", determined to be a premeditated crime. John finds himself in the position where he immediately doubts the veracity of PreCrime on the merits of this absurd scenario. But what Minority Report does is allow the pieces of this inevitable plot to arrange themselves into a scene not unlike that viewed by the precogs. Even more ironic is that while John is the most fervent proponent of PreCrime--following the loss of his son six years prior at a swimming pool, shortly before PreCrime's inception--it is Danny who becomes fascinated by the resources and abilities available by virtue of the visions, and is put in charge of hunting John down when he runs. The dynamic is reminiscent of another futuristic film of fascistic social order, Logan's Run; both require the protagonist to get to the roots of the system they operate under, and effectively "uproot" the process to survive. This brings John in touch with Dr. Iris Hineman (Lois Smith), who created PreCrime alongside John's mentor, Lamar Burgess (Max von Sydow), who informs John of the potential of the eponymous "minority report", a prediction made by one precog--in this case the strongest, Agatha (Samantha Morton)--which displays an outcome different than the majority interpretation of the future, another possibility, and John's hope to clear his name of the crime he has yet to even commit.
The look of the future depicted in Minority Report is deliberate in both set design and lighting. The film appears extremely luminescent, but also stark, cold, even sterilized. This is a bureaucratic future with a pervading sense of antipathy, the future where the idea of imprisoning one who could pose a threat is just as acceptable as one who has done evil already. It is the kind of paranoid defensiveness which would be natural from one who has lost someone dear to crime, just as John has, and the appearance also mirrors his own despair; John is haunted by the past as well as the future. Washington D.C. some forty years in the future is also a realm where the existence of gravity-defying freeways, retinal-scanning advertisements at stores in the mall, and yes, even jetpacks are a reality. To a point, Minority Report has been called prescient with regards to some of this technology now in its infancy in our own time, with special attention toward augmented reality and holograms, hands-free headsets, and cloud computing. When Microsoft launched its video game peripheral, Kinect, its function was immediately identified as being both reminiscent of and inspired by the PreCrime computer featured in the film, as well as the bleeding edge computer, J.A.R.V.I.S. in the Marvel Comics' film, Iron Man. One similarity which comes to mind is also in the form of Google, which has made monumental strides to archive and document the world. Consider that the precogs' dreams of the murders resemble in part a documentary of the future, and how the navigation of these dreams by John is called "scrubbing"--just as a film editor moves the timeline to scrub the cursor to where he wants it to be--and the sense that even the multi-billion dollar computer company may have been inspired by this film about predicting the future is just a little bit unsettling. The idea that predictions for the future come from dreams implies that whatever the precogs are--albeit they are human--that they are able to tap into a kind of extra-sensory perception which exists in that semi-conscious state, not unlike the one the pre-criminals captured by John experience in their captivity, experiencing visions like those described by the warden, Gideon (Tim Blake Nelson). There is a theory that the last portion of the film might be a dream; it's possible...it's also possible that it does play out just as we see. That is the root of what makes Minority Report such a uniquely cerebral science fiction and action film: possibility.
Recommended for: Fans of a thrilling, sharp, and exciting action film in the future, which also miraculously manages to introduce a complex mystery while raising fundamental questions about government intervention and predetermination. To get all of that in just two and a half fast hours is a feat unto itself.