Thankfully, Minority Report, which is now playing and opened at number one at the box office, doesn’t follow in the disappointing footsteps of that Peter Pan takeoff. Instead, it delivers on the promise of an all-star marquee match-up by giving us more than simply the Cruise grin and the crowd-pleasing Spielberg touch. It may stagger a bit toward the end (at approximately 2½ hours, the film would have benefited from a leaner running time), but Minority Report hits the bull’s-eye in nearly every other way.

Based on a Philip K. Dick short story (the late author is also the source behind such trippy sci-fi flicks as Blade Runner and Total Recall), Minority Report explodes out of the gate with a fascinating premise: the year is 2054 and Washington, D.C., is the hub of a groundbreaking new approach to police work called the PreCrime Unit. This elite force, headed by Chief John Anderton (Cruise), tracks and apprehends murderers before they are able to strike. This pro-active approach to crime busting is made possible by the Pre-Cogs, three psychic beings who are able to foresee a murder before it happens (sometimes their insight comes days before the event, sometimes less than an hour). Their visions are recorded and then Anderton and his crew comb through these images to find clues that will lead them to the perpetrator before he or she is actually able to perpetrate the deed.

After several years of success in D.C., the PreCrime Unit is about to go national, but before it does, it’s going to get a major shakedown from a skeptical rival agent, Danny Witwer (Colin Farrell), who wonders if the Pre-Cogs, led by Agatha (Samantha Morton), have ever been wrong. Anderton pledges his faith in the system they’ve established, but that belief is tested when he finds himself the next suspect on the PreCrime Unit’s list.

Minority Report begins quite impressively with a suspenseful sequence that shows the PreCrime Unit in action (Anderton and company move on a “red ball,” an impending murder that is about to happen within the hour). From there, the film strikes an enthralling tone as it melds together a mindful, intelligent concept with a striking visual concept of the future. Spielberg then adds a healthy dose of old-fashioned Hitchcockian thriller (Cruise on the run brings to mind Cary Grant’s race from the law in North by Northwest), with a dash of detective neo-noir stirred into the mix (note Farrell’s mannered speech and hard-boiled demeanor). The movie is also somewhat informed by the darker side that Spielberg has displayed in his recent films, Saving Private Ryan and A.Ii, and there are some nice little macabre touches that are added as well.         

But perhaps just as A.I. was enlivened by top-notch performances by Haley Joel Osment and Jude Law (not to mention Teddy, the animatronic bear), Minority Report, even with all its bells and whistles, is ultimately buoyed by a strong central performance from Cruise, nice counterpoint work by Farrell, and welcome supporting turns from Max von Sydow, Lois Smith, Steve Harris, Neal McDonough, and others. However, special notice should be given to Morton, who was an Oscar-nominee for her role in Woody Allen’s Sweet and Lowdown. She has a shot to garner another nomination for her work here as an almost otherworldly presence as a Pre-Cog who gets drawn into the fray when her vision tabs Anderton as a future murderer.

Minority Report, rated PG-13 for violence, language and drug references, is an engaging thriller with more going for it than simple eye candy. Spielberg and company have crafted an entertaining summer treat that’s also got some meat on its bones. It’s not perfect (if only they had trimmed the fat!), but it’s well worth the price of admission.