Minority Report 2002

Glenn Lovell, San Jose Mercury News: This one blends the best aspects of the mature Spielberg's often warring personality. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Cruise will never be a master thespian, but there's no one better at putting across the charisma of control, and the opening sequence of Report is an astonishingly fluid demonstration of his gifts. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: The movie is a joy to watch. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: A masterful work infused with beautiful and haunting visuals, outstanding performances from Tom Cruise and a gifted supporting cast -- and a story that challenges the mind and engages the spirit. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Gives us a lot to chew on, but not all of it has been properly digested. Read more

Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel: Spielberg's visual imagination has never been more splendid. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: While the film, deftly imagined by screenwriters Scott Frank and Jon Cohen, doesn't entirely hold together, its dark, twisty chases and tricky puzzles have much more going for them than Spielberg's last foray onto similar turf. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Minority Report won't go down as one of Spielberg's greatest films -- there are a few gaping holes in the plot, and some awkward attempts at humor. But it's a wonderfully chilly thrill ride while it lasts. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: Spielberg's sharpest, brawniest, most bustling entertainment since Raiders of the Lost Ark and the finest of the season's action epics. Read more

Susan Stark, Detroit News: Cold and scattered, Minority Report commands interest almost solely as an exercise in gorgeous visuals. That's not vintage Spielberg and that, finally, is minimally satisfying. Read more

Paul Clinton (CNN.com), CNN.com: Spielberg does a masterful job of building the dramatic tension while drawing us deeper and deeper into Anderton's nightmare. The futuristic touches in the film are wonderful. Read more

Elvis Mitchell, New York Times: The film is magnificently creepy, a calculated bad dream that stays with you like the best of Roger Corman. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: A fast-moving, entertaining, thought-provoking film that leaves you feeling vaguely empty because it might have been a classic. Read more

Peter Rainer, New York Magazine/Vulture: High-concept science-fiction escapades often try to impose new ways of seeing, but Spielberg seems intent on blistering our optic nerves. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Shallow, noisy and pretentious. Read more

Andrew Sarris, New York Observer: My own minority report is that it stinks. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: For its stunning visuals and standout performances, Minority Report -- or at least the first three-fourths of it -- might just be the best movie so far this year. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: Though his movie wraps challenging ideas and ingenious visual conceits in a futurist film-noir style, it's pretentious, didactic and intentionally but mercilessly bleak. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Spielberg and Cruise are back to top form. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: Astonishing... [frames] profound ethical and philosophical questions in the form of dazzling pop entertainment. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: A highly effective thriller whose futuristic panoramas rival those of A.I. Artificial Intelligence. Read more

Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle: The film reaches toward greatness but fails because it is too perfect a projection of its creator. Nevertheless, we should celebrate it, because this makes it -- flaws and all -- more valuable than 1,000 soulless, committee-hatched flicks. Read more

Steven Rosen, Denver Post: Spielberg's realization of a near-future America is masterful. This makes Minority Report necessary viewing for sci-fi fans, as the film has some of the best special effects ever. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: There's something auspicious, and daring, too, about the artistic instinct that pushes a majority-oriented director like Steven Spielberg to follow A.I. with this challenging report so liable to unnerve the majority. Read more

Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News: Some may quibble that the 144-minute length accommodates at least one too many endings. But such quibbling will diminish in view of the film's overall impact. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: A film that can get you high on the sheer magic and exhilaration of making movies. Read more

Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly: A terrifically entertaining specimen of Spielbergian sci-fi. Read more

David Ansen, Newsweek: Ferociously intense, furiously kinetic, it's expressionist film noir science fiction that, like all good sci-fi, peers into the future to shed light on the present. Read more

Anthony Lane, New Yorker: The worst thing about the new Steven Spielberg picture is the title, Minority Report. The best thing about it is pretty much everything else. Read more

Jami Bernard, New York Daily News: Much of Minority Report is inspired, but the movie is also packed with oddball, overdone acting, the occasional clunker cliche and the feeling that Spielberg couldn't leave well enough alone. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: A heart-pounding experience that makes you think and contains a gallery of characters that will haunt your nightmares for years to come. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Rivals some of Spielberg's top adventure/science fiction epics, such as Close Encounters and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: This film is such a virtuoso high-wire act, daring so much, achieving it with such grace and skill. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Final Report: Good, yes; great, no. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: Breathtaking and disturbing. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: This is the kind of pure entertainment that, in its fullness and generosity, feels almost classic. Read more

David Edelstein, Slate: While it strays from Dick's narrative, it nails the basic premise and some quintessential Dickian motifs. Read more

Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Cruise brings just the right shading of depth to his performance. He allows glimpses into Anderton's emotions but doesn't forget that, when all is said and done, this is an action movie. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Minority Report is more humdrum than horrible. It isn't futuristic film noir; it's just everyday film beige. Read more

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: The most intelligently fun movie Spielberg has ever made. Read more

Geoff Andrew, Time Out: The fashionably fussy, funky veneer may convince some that the film's serious, but it's finally another chase pic, murky in detail, muddled in ideology and strangely predictable in dramatic thrust. Read more

Mike Clark, USA Today: It's hard to imagine wanting anything more -- even from a Cruise-Spielberg matchup. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: The film's success is in line with what American films historically have done best, which is to excitingly tell a strong story with high style and just enough substance. Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: A movie of haunting images and mindless thrills. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: A classy, chilly quasi-Hitchcockian affair. Read more