MINORITY REPORT: A Refresher
As many of you may remember, Minority Report, starring Tom Cruise and Colin Farrell, came out in 2002. In its opening weekend, it grossed $35 million. The Steven Spielberg film received 90% on Rotten Tomatoes and was received positively among movie goers.
Tom Cruise plays Chief of PreCrime John Anderton. The PreCrime unit stops murders before they happen, which is made possible by the PreCogs. Agatha, Arthur, and Dash see the murders, which are then shown on a screen for everyone in the unit to watch. The PreCogs see Anderton committing a murder 36 hours into the future. It’s a man he doesn’t know, and he has no way of knowing how or if he’ll commit this crime. He flees the unit, and from there it becomes a thrilling manhunt for Anderton while he tries to clear his name.
The film is loosely based off the short story by Philip K. Dick. This original story ended with Anderton and his wife being exiled after Anderton kills the man he was predicted to kill.
Minority Report was praised for its equal parts action and exploration of free will in a futurist society. PreCrime is investigated by Danny Witwer (Colin Farrell), and the only way PreCrime works is to assume that the future is decided by destiny.
Minority Report, a new television series on Fox, is set ten years after the film ends. Dash, one of the PreCogs, still has visions of those who are murdered, and in trying to stop them he teams up with Detective Lara Vega. The first episode addresses the same problems the film did, on a smaller scale. In order to stop a murder, they have to go to Open Vistas Rehabilitation, where all the people arrested for the intent of murder go.
The first episode of Minority Report airs tonight on Fox, at 9pm ET/PT, and we’ll be sharing recaps and reviews as the season progresses.
