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In Reply to: Good review of Minority Report posted by clarkjohnsen on June 26, 2002 at 07:31:34:
Putting aside the fact that Minority Report is based upon an excellent Philip K. Dick short story, this Steven Speilberg film isn't bad, however it does bear some of Mr. Spielberg's "trademark" sloppiness that occasionally compromises his artistry. I've mentioned this before about his Direction, that he covers up glaring flaws of logic and continuity gaffs with nail-biting, nerve-racking, edge-of-the-seat suspense. This is not necessarily a bad thing, like masking unpleasant body odor with a brisk deoderant, but over time odiferous mistakes will reveal themselves to the attentive filmgoer and become uncomfortably noticeable.The biggest failing of Minority Report aside from a continuity problem with clothing in one scene, is the whole eyeball segment. For one thing, it isn't logical that Tom Cruise would be able to get back into the secured facility using a retina scan after he was on the run, but even if he did, he wouldn't be able to sneak in unnoticed. Secondly, that surviving eyeball must've had one hell of a preservative applied (i.e., Spielberg's marketing department missed an excellent opportunity for a product placement endorsing the preservative qualities of zip-lock baggies!) because his remaining removed eye was never placed on ice and survived intact in so well that his ex-wife could use it to rescue him from prison! Oh, BTW, once again there seemed to be no problem with his security clearance.
Once mine quit rolling, let's look at the whole eyeball subplot for a moment. The reason he felt the need to have his eyes surgically removed was because retina scans revealed his presence to everyone through all the "personalized" advertising. Now that's an interesting concept until you think about it from a practical standpoint. How "noticed" would one be when all the advertisements are speaking to folks individually around you? Not very, IMHO! Then, if you can get around that one you have to explain, with crowds of folks around him being scanned and theoretically solicited in the same manner, why the advertisements only seem to speak to him! Hmmm, it just seems like sloppy filmmaking to me.
All that aside, it's still a good film, just not great. One other thing, there seemed to be more chemistry and connection between Tom Cruise's character and the female precog than with his ex-wife. As a matter of fact her character was the most interesting and sympathetic one in the film, IMO.
AuPh
I completely agree about the eyeball thing. The MOST ridiculous part of it was when one of his eyes went down the sewer drain but his wife still had 2 eyeballs in the bag at the end (also just the idea that she would know exactly here to go to retrieve him - and only one unarmed guy is the entire security for the place - is pretty silly). One more thing about the eyes. Everywhere TC went there were these automatic scanners checking people's ID's (a rightwing wet dream) when they were in public; but in the high security pre crime building there were only the couple of single eye scanning devices.I though it was kind of weak that his one eye was unbandaged after only 6 hours and the very next scene he's breaking into pre-crime and everything's fine despite the 12 hour warning (I'm not saying his eye's couldn't have been fine after 6 hours but after making such a big deal about the 12 hours they could have given it a little bit of exposition).
As for the advertising; in the Gap the holographic ads were clearly speaking to several different customer's
My biggest complaint is about the crime TC was pre-accused of. I haven't completely wrapped my mind around it yet but something's not right. In the other crimes it was the people's own plans that were being revealed but in TC's it was the precognition itself that led him to the hotel room. If TC had been lured there in some other way it would have made more sense.
Let's say his boss needed to trap him and came up with the idea to set him up with the fake killer of his child driving TC to murder. If he set the guy up in the hotel room but did nothing to alert TC to his presence; whose mind does the idea come from for the contact and murder to take place. It can't come from TC's mind he has no idea. It can't come from the patsy guy he also has no idea. For it to come from TC's boss doesn't make any sense since the whole thing relies on the precognition as the force that creates the event. Like I said I haven't totally wrapped my mind around it but something's not right there.
"A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it." --George W. Bush, July 26, 2000
...there was only one eyeball in the baggie at the end, not two.joe
Now I'm going to have to go see it again. Yuck!
"A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it." --George W. Bush, July 26, 2000
.
"A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it." --George W. Bush, July 26, 2000
Actually, today companies are already trying to "personalize" ads to speak just to you. The "light" version of that is Cookies on the Internet. Lots of sites welcome you back!Doug Schneider
8^)
Hi your Auphulness,Yes- the eyeball security is lax, but that wasn't the worst flaw (BTW, what was with that disgusting doctor- where was the revenge he was going to take out on Cruise ?).
The worst part was the K- Tel Slip 'O 'the Tongue- a- matic used to write the script:
Any person:
"Hello, I'm going to make a simple comment, which you will inadvertently respond to with a particular detail which only the real killer could possibly have known, so here goes- How's the weather ?"
Bad Guy:
"It's a bit chilly, but not as cold as that day I murdered that person in the icy waters of Lake Implausible while wearing a clown suit and using a Don Rickles mask- Doh ! I mean Oops ! Damn it- you'd think with me being such an intelligent statesman- like gentleman, who concocted this whole conoluted scheme under the noses of everyone, that I could keep my mouth shut for the duration of this boring scene. And don't ask me why I just didn't kidnap that person and kill her far enough away from the Precogs, my Lexus was in the shop"
And the happy ending ? Puke.
And the question of the Minority Reports themselves ? The implication for all those convicted ?
And the question of slavery in this "humane" society ?
And the title "Minority Report" has nothing to do with the plot - butI suppose the title Dumb and Dumber had already been used.
He was spoken to after the eye change as "Mr Yamamoto", remember?
In the Gap store.I think where Spielberg really got things right was in those very advertisements. The way marketing was done direct and the "newspapers" displaying moving video was right on and I doubt it will actually take 50 years before that is a reality.
You are completely correct about the whole security issue.
And about the pre-cog, as a matter of fact I thought she was one of the best things in the movie. The sequence in the mall was very Hitchcock & DePalma, and rather amusing.
However, I don't think we should not nit-pick the details so much as to miss the overall theme. The whole idea of "pre crime" raises so many issues as to warrant a genre of films.
After all, we as a society devote so much energy, money, and resources to catching and punishing criminals AFTER the crime, AFTER the harm is already done.
Wouldn't it make much more sense to PREVENT the damage in the first place? It seems "Crime Prevention" should be society's number one goal. After all, truely what purpose does it serve to catch a murderer after the murder? The victim is already dead and obviously there is no deterrent to killing.
... it's just that the execution of it left a lot to be desired. The only reason I could see for his needing new eyes was to avoid the robot search "spiders." It's hard to believe that anyone would recognize one name being addressed among the thousands of names those personalized retina-scanning ads SHOULD'VE been spitting out, but the obviouse eye-saving solution for poor Tom would have been... (ta da!) "reflective shades." Note: Reflective shades couldn't be illegal, because a pair was being modeled on the billboard advertisement in which the precog forsaw the killing!Unfortunately, Mr. Spielberg should've had one more rewrite on that script to smooth out the plot-holes.
Cheers,
AuPh
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