Minority Report

[Guest godthedog]

ok which movie looks worse Juwanna Mann or Like Mike, I'm gonna vote for Juwanna Mann

'like mike', no contest.

 

at least 'juwanna man' at least has real actors to carry the movie. with 'like mike', we get to see an hour & a half of the stellar acting abilities of lil bow wow, allen iverson & jason kidd.

[Guest mach7]

Minority Report was a great film, but IMO, they should have ended it about 20 minutes earlier. The ending just ruined the whole experience for me.. =\

[Guest Kahran Ramsus]

*Spoilers*

 

 

 

 

 

Minority Report was great, but it would have been even better if it was proven that Pre-Crime works after Burgess killed Anderton, instead of committing suicide at the end.

[Guest chirs3]

Was just surfing RottenTomatoes.com, where Minority Report got a mind-boggling 94% approval rating. I don't get it either.

 

Anywho, for the 9 sensible critics who thumb-downed this movie, I found a quote I kinda think sums it up.

 

"Minority Report is more humdrum than horrible. It isn't futuristic film noir; it's just everyday film beige."

 

 

-- Rick Groen, GLOBE AND MAIL

[Guest C.H.U.D.]

Was just surfing RottenTomatoes.com, where Minority Report got a mind-boggling 94% approval rating. I don't get it either.

 

 

                       

Either? Who else besides you doesn't get it?

[Guest chirs3]

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one on this messageboard dumbfounded at it's score .

[Guest NaturalBornThriller4:20]

Once-again-I-say.....

 

Daredevil-Teaser!

[Guest chirs3]

PLOT HOLE

 

Spoilers.

 

Why did the PreCogs see Cruise's murdering that guy if Cruise didn't murder that guy? After all, there was no Minority Report for Cruise, so he was not one of the few who had a choice. They couldn't have seen it as that guy murdering himself, because attempting Suicide is a crime, and the only crime PreCogs see is murder. So how'd they see it?

[Guest massivHEDtrauma]

PLOT HOLE

 

Spoilers.

 

Why did the PreCogs see Cruise's murdering that guy if Cruise didn't murder that guy? After all, there was no Minority Report for Cruise, so he was not one of the few who had a choice. They couldn't have seen it as that guy murdering himself, because attempting Suicide is a crime, and the only crime PreCogs see is murder. So how'd they see it?

Because Cruise's finger is the one that actually pulled the trigger. All the guy did was push his hand a bit and make him fire accidentally. This was a big point of the movie, something that really confirmed in Anderton's mind that pre-crime was just a bunch of bullshit. Why else would he even go up there? He had to know for sure if it was flawed or not before stumblingly attempting to clear himself. Thus, it sets up for the ending (I agree, it could have been way better, that ending) and gives Cruise even more of a motive than just clearing his own name.

 

Frankly, if you didn't get that, your opinion holds little water to me. You even avoided the BIGGEST plot holes, which are as follows (spoiler alert!):

 

First of all, Anderton's crime would never have even occurred if the pre-cogs did not predict it would. Their prediction is what led him into hiding and what led him, ultimately, to "the killer." Hence, the pre-cogs were basically just telling him what to do by spitting out a ball in the first place.

 

And while we're on the subject of the balls, why wasn't Anderton's ball red (designating a crime of passion)? If the uncovering of a child molester/killer isn't a murder of passion, I don't know what is. And even if it isn't classified as a crime of passion, the pre-cogs should not have been able to predict the murder a full two days before it occurred, because in the beginning it says that only pre-meditated murder can be predicted with such time left over. Anderton's killing of his son's molester/murderer should have been predicted maybe like 15 minutes before it happened, not two days before.

 

Actually, it shouldn't have happened at all, as I've already established.

 

*Whew!* That twisted my brain around for a while, yes. I know it seems like I'm hating on this movie, but I'm not. The reasons I liked it were that Spielberg directed it (I love his style, the way he gives things human qualities, like the mechanical spiders and the plants), it was incredible looking (the muted colors were a stroke of genius, anyone else notice how the movie got more colorless with Anderton's mood?), and Cruise and Farrell both turned in better performances than most sci-fi films get, making their characters at least believable, if not intense. Sure, the story was a bit predictable and there were flaws, but I champion this movie for the same reason Chirs champions The Mummy Returns - it was fun. All in all, I give it 8 out of 10.

 

But it's still no A.I.: Artificial Intelligence. A.I. was the shit.

[Guest chirs3]

Because Cruise's finger is the one that actually pulled the trigger. All the guy did was push his hand a bit and make him fire accidentally. This was a big point of the movie, something that really confirmed in Anderton's mind that pre-crime was just a bunch of bullshit. Why else would he even go up there? He had to know for sure if it was flawed or not before stumblingly attempting to clear himself. Thus, it sets up for the ending (I agree, it could have been way better, that ending) and gives Cruise even more of a motive than just clearing his own name.

 

If the guy pushed Cruise's hand to make the gun fire, he killed himself. Cruise was holding the gun, but "the killer" made it fire.

 

You even avoided the BIGGEST plot holes, which are as follows (spoiler alert!):

 

First of all, Anderton's crime would never have even occurred if the pre-cogs did not predict it would. Their prediction is what led him into hiding and what led him, ultimately, to "the killer." Hence, the pre-cogs were basically just telling him what to do by spitting out a ball in the first place.

 

The old guy set him up, remember? The old guy paid "the killer" to pretend he kidnapped and murdered Cruise's child. His setup is what led Anderton there.

 

And while we're on the subject of the balls, why wasn't Anderton's ball red (designating a crime of passion)? If the uncovering of a child molester/killer isn't a murder of passion, I don't know what is. And even if it isn't classified as a crime of passion, the pre-cogs should not have been able to predict the murder a full two days before it occurred, because in the beginning it says that only pre-meditated murder can be predicted with such time left over. Anderton's killing of his son's molester/murderer should have been predicted maybe like 15 minutes before it happened, not two days before.

 

It WAS premeditated. Cruise said "Ever since that day, I've been thinking of two things: I forget the first, and the second is what I would do to the guy if I found him. That counts, though in a stupid way, for the premeditation.

 

Now, on an off comment, thank you for not being C.H.U.D., who seems to believe my enjoying The Mummy Returns is grounds for disregarding what I say. If I were wearing a hat, it would be off to you.

 

EDIT: Ooh, I misunderstood your first Plot Hole, and you're right. The Precogs just kinda pushed him there. My B, my B.

[Guest chirs3]

Wait a sec.

 

The Precogs... ALL of the Precogs saw Cruise MURDER the guy. They saw Cruise holding the gun, the guy a good five feet away, saying "No, don't!" and Cruise pulling the trigger.

 

There was no Minority Report for Cruise, meaning that unless the PreCrimer's stopped him, it WAS going to happen.

 

So why didn't it happen?

[Guest Insanityman]

I remember the first line, "I wonder what my son would be like if he was here." Also everything went right like they saw until the guy talked. That was where Cruise was able to make his choice, even thought he didn't have the Minority Report.

[Guest chirs3]

Also everything went right like they saw until the guy talked. That was where Cruise was able to make his choice, even thought he didn't have the Minority Report.

 

That's just it - Cruise didn't have a Minority Report, so he didn't have a choice. If this an attempt to show the whole system is flawed, then what's so damned special about the Minority Reports? Cruise was ticked that say, for every thousand set-in-stone murders, there were five Minority Reports. If Cruise got to choose without a Minority Report, why was that never even mentioned again the movie? Or did I miss something?

[Guest Insanityman]

I'm not sure about that, or maybe the point trying to come across was that everyone has the choice... meh, I still enjoyed the movie.

 

 

Don't you hate it when your eyeballs roll around without any notice? And the whole "Have to wait 12 hours" and then all that crap was taking revenge, right?

[Guest chirs3]

Thanks, you reminded me of something else I didn't like. They went for WAAAY too much comic relief in this movie. The eyes, the food in the fridge, the eyes, the eyes, and Cruise's friend at the Club. Did I mention the eyes?

 

There was one good gag, and that was Cruise walking into the Gap. "Welcome, Mr. Yamamoto!"

 

... "Yamamoto?"

 

This is not the kind of movie people should be laughing at.

 

Warning: I dunno if his name was Yamamoto, I just remember is was something Japanese I think. I just pulled out that name.

[Guest Insanityman]

I thought the eyes has pushing it, but quite frankly my brain needed a bit of a breather before I went back to predicting, also I think it was around Yamato.

[Guest C.H.U.D.]

You guys do realize that this film was science-fiction, and based in the far off future?

 

Do less analyzing and more dating.

[Guest Human Fly]

I thought it was a good movie. There were about 3 times when I thought it had ended, and it didn't. A for sure dvd pick-up when it comes out.

[Guest chirs3]

You guys do realize that this film was science-fiction, and based in the far off future?

 

Do less analyzing and more dating.

 

It's inexcusable for such gaping plot holes to exist in this movie. If this were an Adam Sandler comedy, any form of plot hole could be blown off. But on a story-heavy Sci-Fi "action thriller suspense drama" whatnot, the story should make sense.

 

Less analyzing, more dating? Ooh, that was cold...

 

No... not cold.

 

What's the word- Ah!

 

Stupid.

 

Edit: And it's based 50 years from now. I wouldn't call that "in the far off future".

[Guest C.H.U.D.]

Chances are you'll be dead by then. That's far enough.

 

You didn't like Blade II either right? That's what I thought. Move along.

[Guest chirs3]

You didn't like Blade II either right?

 

Where exactly does Blade II fit into this?

 

Edit: No, I'll probably be about 67 by then... not dead.

[Guest Kahran Ramsus]

So why didn't it happen?

 

Because Pre-Crime doesn't work.

[Guest chirs3]

You see, that's the problem. First off, if PreCrime "just doesn't work", then there's a good chance an incident where it blatantly didn't work, ala Cruise's situation, would've happened before. It had been going for six years, remember.

 

And even if not, if the PreCrime system "just doesn't work", then why the hell are there Minority Reports in the first place?

[Guest C.H.U.D.]

You see, that's the problem. First off, if PreCrime "just doesn't work", then there's a good chance an incident where it blatantly didn't work, ala Cruise's situation, would've happened before. It had been going for six years, remember.

It's fairly obvious why it hadn't happened before.

 

One, it's a movie, not reality.

 

Two, no one else other than Cruise had the ability to know beforehand that he would commit a crime due to seeing the pre-crime on screen himself.

 

Oh yeah, as for Blade II. I know everyone has opinions, but some are more stupid than others. Anyone who says they enjoyed The Mummy Returns then says "anyone who liked Blade II should be shot in the face" pretty much renders their opinion about films worthless.

 

That is all.

[Guest chirs3]

It's fairly obvious why it hadn't happened before.

 

One, it's a movie, not reality.

 

Two, no one else other than Cruise had the ability to know beforehand that he would commit a crime due to seeing the pre-crime on screen himself.

 

The old guy knew Cruise would commit a crime (even though Cruise didn't commit a crime). He knew about Cruise's son, and the hate Cruise had festering in him for the guy who kidnapped his son.

 

Oh yeah, as for Blade II. I know everyone has opinions, but some are more stupid than others. Anyone who says they enjoyed The Mummy Returns then says "anyone who liked Blade II should be shot in the face" pretty much renders their opinion about films worthless.

 

I didn't say anyone who liked it should be shot in the face. Why do you lie, CHUD? Why do you lie?

 

I said anyone who thinks it's better than the original should be shot in the face. And, in case you didn't catch it in the review, I noticed a distinct lack of anything worthwhile in Blade II, whether it be fun, acting, action, anything. I can say I enjoyed Mummy because, god forbid, there were redeeming qualities to it.

[Guest MDH257]

Incedently did anyone notice Cameron Crowe's cameo in the film.  I thought that was so cool, especially considering Spielberg cameoed in Crowe's Vanilla Sky.

Look to the left of Cameron Crowe, sitting behind him and wearing a pair of glasses is Cameron Diaz.

 

Yeah, she should have gotten nominated for Vannila Sky

 

Minority Report was very good. Could have been great, but you could see the plot twist coming and Spielberg just had to have a happy ending.

[Guest godthedog]

*spoilers*

 

looks like nobody's mentioned a huge, gaping plot hole in the movie...

 

how could anderton's wife have gained access to the prison using anderton's eye after anderton had already been prisoned? have you ever tried to clock in after getting fired from a job? IT DOESN'T WORK BECAUSE THEY TAKE YOUR NAME OFF THE COMPUTER WHEN YOU DON'T WORK THERE ANYMORE. anderton not only didn't work there anymore, he was in jail. if this law enforcement institution can catch a murderer before it happens, one would think they update the computer for shit like that.

 

anderton also used his eye to get in while he was on the run from the cops, which is almost as stupid. you'd think the first thing they would do when he was wanted by the authorities would be to take away his access.

[Guest chirs3]

Not to mention whenever he got retinal scanned with his own eyes, PreCrimers could track him. Yet when he gets retinal scanned to break back into PreCrime (using the Anderton eyes), they don't even notice.

 

But I didn't even think of his wife using them after he was jailed, and you're right.

[Guest Kahran Ramsus]

*spoilers*

 

looks like nobody's mentioned a huge, gaping plot hole in the movie...

 

how could anderton's wife have gained access to the prison using anderton's eye after anderton had already been prisoned? have you ever tried to clock in after getting fired from a job? IT DOESN'T WORK BECAUSE THEY TAKE YOUR NAME OFF THE COMPUTER WHEN YOU DON'T WORK THERE ANYMORE. anderton not only didn't work there anymore, he was in jail. if this law enforcement institution can catch a murderer before it happens, one would think they update the computer for shit like that.

 

anderton also used his eye to get in while he was on the run from the cops, which is almost as stupid. you'd think the first thing they would do when he was wanted by the authorities would be to take away his access.

 

This is all true.

[Guest Crucifixio Jones]

It's true Pre-Crime doesn't work, but Anderton believed in it heavily. Simply because the situation with his son sorta blinded him. His superior knew this and he also knew about Pre-Crime's faults. He was willing to overlook those faults, however to further his own political agenda. He also exploited those flaws to do a little wrongdoing of his own.

 

Anderton didn't have a Minority Report but he had something no one else ever had before. And that was prior knowledge of what was going to happen. So minority report or not, he had a choice when the moment of truth came. Just another flaw in the pre-crime system. The fact that he didn't kill the guy doesn't really show a TRUE flaw in pre-crime, just that you can't always believe what you see. "Don't belive everything you hear and only half of what you see," someone wiser than me once said.

 

The guy at the beginning who was gonna murder his wife may have had no minority report either. But had he been shown his future beforehand, perhaps he would've changed his mind as well.