Reel Critics

Too much going on in ‘Minority Report’

“Minority Report” is the story of a sophisticated crime-fighting

company named Pre-Crime. Pre-Crime identifies future murders and is

therefore able to prevent the actual crime in its “pre” stage. The

company has been in place in Washington, D.C., for the last six years,

and in that time they have not had one murder.

The company works by using the brain power of flawed humans. It seeks

out children born with a genetic flaw that allows them to have an

extraordinary degree of precognition. Pre-Crime adopts them for training

and development in the company. The “precogs” are isolated and trained to

serve only Pre-Crime. They “see” a future murder, let their handlers

know, and a team is dispatched to arrest the murderer before a crime can

be committed.

The director of this system is Lamar Burgess (Max van Sydow), and the

leader is Paul Anderton (Tom Cruise). The federal government has just

expressed an interest in nationalizing the system. Coincidentally,

Anderton has just been accused of pre-committing a murder, so he must

escape and brave all the high-tech police in order to prove he was

framed.

Steven Spielberg has spared nothing in the high-tech arena. There is

a whole Sharper Image catalog going on in the nooks and crannies: Little

spider guys scanning eyes; Pre-Crime police being transported by jet

propulsion; transportation pods running up, down and around buildings.

There is a lot going on and I wonder if there just is not too much

going on. Most of the movie is devoted to Anderton’s escape and showing

off the new toys. Sooner or later you are brought back to “Total Recall”

and “Blade Runner” and remember why this all looks familiar.

I can see the evolving complexities and philosophies, each of which

need a fair share of discussion time. Does knowing the future mean you

can change it? Are you guilty of murder if no murder has occurred?

The other films adopted from story lines by Philip K. Dick offer the

viewer his jaded concept. In both movies prior to “Minority Report,” the

future was painted as a dismal place with overpopulated cities, crowded

living space and no green pastures or country living. This view is a bit

better.

I felt the movie was equal to the star power -- the whole movie, not

just the story line. It is also worthwhile to note that there is an

intricate whodunit running in the background that has tentacles to draw

from all aspects of the movie and is very, very good about how it

distributes its clues.

This movie is definitely futuristic, high-tech stuff. I think I might

rent it when it comes out on DVD.

“Minority Report” is rated PG-13 for violence, brief language, some

sexuality and drug content.* JOAN ANDRE, “over 65,” is a Newport Beach

resident who does a lot of volunteer work.

‘Scooby Doo’ suffers from credibility issues

When you think of “Scooby Doo,” you think of the cute, outspoken Great

Dane that helps his friends solve mysteries in the oddest sort of ways.

You have to think, “How could such a group be so successful?” But then

you realize that all this stuff is make-believe, and the writers make it

so that everything turns out happy in the end.

Don’t get me wrong, Scooby and his pal, Shaggy, are two of a kind. But

how does a group that splits up and then meets again two years later,

still mad at each other, solve a mystery involving some evil mastermind?

I think it’s very unlikely.

This movie is about the group of friends that form Mystery Inc.,

including the handsome Fred (Freddie Prinze Jr.), the damsel-like Daphne

(Sarah Michelle Gellar), the brainy Velma (Linda Cardenllini), the

clueless Shaggy ( Matthew Lillard), and of course, Scooby. Together,

while being in a dispute with one another, they try to solve the evil

plot that has commenced on Spooky Island, an amusement park geared toward

college students.

In time, as the students leave Spooky Island, they seem to have

completely changed in personality. This is where the former Mystery Inc.

tries to help. In other words, they try to push everyone out of the

picture and each works out the mystery by themselves. It doesn’t end like

this, for they end up forgiving each other and working together to figure

out who the mastermind is.

This story line doesn’t sound very convincing to me, for the way they

go about it is obviously planned. If the action was gone about in another

way, the movie would have more purpose.

Even so, the movie did have its entertaining moments. The comedy of

Shaggy and Scooby was one of the highlights of the movie. And even with

the rest of the characters, there was disguised humor.

It seemed that each member had their own uniqueness, which was

constant throughout the movie. Velma had her brains, Daphne had her

damsel-ness, Fred had his leadership, and Shaggy and Scooby had their

comedy. It made the movie seem realistic.

“Scooby Doo” is a movie that is funny in its own sense, but it doesn’t

really have a point to it. It’s more of a cartoon made in reality. It has

its laughs, and all together, that’s the one thing you get out of it.

“Scooby Doo” is rated PG for some rude humor, language and some scary

action.

* SARA SALAM will attend Corona del Mar High School as a freshman in

the fall.