Minority Report: When Spielberg Would Work With Tom Cruise

Unlike many of these tweens I see bumbling around to buy Hannah Montana CDs at Best Buy day in and day out I remember the days when Tom Cruise was the biggest movie star on the planet and if he was in anything it was almost guaranteed to make at least 300 million at the box office. So when this movie first came along a lot of people were drooling at the what lay ahead for the pairing of two movie gods and an incredibly intriguing premise. Now here we are over half a decade later and Cruise still has yet to let down his couch jumping and Scientology thumping despite a hilarious role in Tropic Thunder.

Though I never fully understood the Tom Cruise phenomenon and don't personally own Top Gun I have always enjoyed the majority of his movies because he's always been surrounded by other people with talent. In this case Spielberg grabbed Colin Farrell when he was still an up and comer and the legendary Max Von Sydow but at the end of the day this is still Cruise's show. But enough excess info let's get to that intriguing premise that I made reference to earlier. It's in the future of course because Spielberg really doesn't do very many movies in his own time since E.T. (always the past around the forties or about ten years in the future) and the once violent Washington D.C. is now a peaceful utopia due to a police division called pre-crime. The division led by John Anderton (Cruise), uses a combination of advanced technology and powerful telepaths to predict and prevent murders. Oh and they have those cool computer screens where you move things with your hands. An effect that has since been copied in Iron Man and the newest James Bond movies. But all is not well in the utopia as John is accused of murder and decides to run using any means necessary to clear his name. From there we have chases, plot twists, homicidal plants and really creepy eye scan things that look like spiders.

Normally this is the part where I go through what I liked and didn't like but doing that too often is boring and because this movie has gotten the gold seal of approval from practically everyone including myself and my far more selective brother I'm just going to belittle the work of one the greatest living directors to make myself feel high and mighty.

First complaint. Colors. I don't know what kind of effects the movie uses but everything has a very irritating blue tint and blurriness to it that irks me. I understood it in The Matrix. Matrix world was green and human world more blues but it never really had me asking what people's faces look like. Everything runs together so much that I had a good deal of trouble picking out people in the fights. Directors nowadays always seem to go for their own visual style and seem to fall in love with a certain kind of filming effect but often all it ends up doing is detracting from any potential realism.

Complaint Two. Action sequences. If the original Indiana Jones movies proved anything they proved that Spielberg knows how to orchestrate action sequences. And while there are a couple of pleasing bits most of the action boils down to simple chase fare. And considering the unique weapons the pre-crime guys carry I was hoping to see them used more than once in the entire movie. Just imagining what could've been done with the guns that essential spew a force push (hooray star wars reference!), aside from a quick two minute bit made me a little sad on the inside.

Complaint Three. Tom Cruise is alright by me but the reason I watch Tom Cruise movies is primarily for the people around him because he plays most of his roles the same. It's a lot like comedic actors that find a routine that works for them. Alas Cruise's best work has been when he goes slightly outside his usual comfort zone or against his lead hero type. I'm not saying he doesn't do a good job here because he does but I've seem him do similar acting in similar movies.

Final Complaint. Effects. Because of the filming style the effects become a little more obvious than I prefer and most of the effects budget seems to be spent on backgrounds or tv-screens rather than making a jet pack that doesn't fly awkwardly. The old James Bond movies with Sean Connery had better jet packs

So now that I've chipped away at this film as best I can whats left? Well a good story, an interesting look at humanity, generally impressive effects, strong acting, and excellent characterization. Turns out my hate fest didn't work out so well. But never fear the review for the fourth Indiana Jones movie looms in the future.....