This was antother adaptation of a Philip K. Dick novel. It was an entertaining story that was good in the beginning, but, in my opinion, flagged towards the end. I don't know exactly what it was. maybe an all too obvious ending, a Tom Cruise vehicle, or something I can't verbalise. I liked the film until I knew the ending then all became inevitable. It was a Tom Cruise picture where he was going to solve the murder and end up on the side of good, having another child with his wife. Perhaps if Tom Cruise hadn't been cast I would have like the picture more. Perhaps if he wasn't in the movies I wouldn't have liked the picture.
I thought about showing this film for a class I'm teaching. I thought I could show this film and relate it somehow to the hot topic in technology "big data." It has some relevance, but it doesn't quite make it. It wraps up everything very tidely. I was hoping for a more convoluted ending. I didn't want Tom Cruise's character to ending up solving the murder and having another child with his wife. That was just to sterile. Too predictable. Perhaps too much of a "Hollywood" ending?
Yet the first thirty minutes to an hour are science fiction film at it's best. The use of pre-cogs to identify future crime is very cutting edge. It brings to mind some of the debates about "Big Data." I'm sure Civil rights activits would have a field day if this film ever attempted to become reality. There is no way the Courts would allow human beings to be exploited to predict crime. And the dubiousness of the offense would sure cause an uprising against convictions for crimes that were committed in the future. Yet, currently, governments are using predictive analytics to predict human behavior. Anyway the film touches on some of these issues and illustrates there abuses, but I just didn't feel that much with this film. It was too predictable.
I may still use this film. But, I'm keeping my options open.
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