Reviews

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** This is an absolutely horrible movie and a travesty to both film and to the short story it was based on. SPOILERS...

First of all, you can't judge a movie "based on a short story" without considering and comparing the movie to the book itself. We always hear 'the book was better.' Well, not only is the book better...it's also very different. I have no idea where Spielberg gets the notion that he can completely destroy the work of Philip K Dick by making this nonsense.

Let's start with the title: Minority Report. The Minority Report is a VERY IMPORTANT item in the short story. It's critical to the plot. However, in the movie, there is no Minority Report. There's a mention of it ("where's the minority report?") but it is dismissed quickly and absolutely ("there is no minority report") That's it. A critical element of the story, and the TITLE OF THE DARN MOVIE is...non existant.

I won't explain the role of the minority report...just visit a bookstore, grab the collection of short stories, and you can read the whole Minority Report "book" in about 30 minutes.

Another conflict is: In the book, Anderston ABSOLUTELY and above all else loves and defends Precrime. At the end of the book, he decides to go ahead and kill the guy just to "prove" that precrime "works." However, in the movie, he fails to do this. Further, he works at the end to bring it down by confronting his nemesis, remarrying his wife, having another kid and living happily after.

What else isn't in the book? Anderton getting new eyes, Anderton getting divorced, Anderton losing his son, Anderton getting setup by his own boss, Anderton running around town with a precog, Anderton having a drug problem, doctors who burned their patients, jetpacks, spiders....you name it. Anderton in the novel is no Tom Cruise, but a 300 pound slob, but why mix some book facts with a bad movie? This movie resembles the original short story as much as it resembles The Wizard Of Oz.

For those that say "well, I didn't read the book and the movie looks great," I can only say: this is one of the most ill thought out, poorly constructed movies with entirely too many plotholes.

One example that comes to mind is Anderton's eyeballs: they could track Anderton in his car and reroute the car, yet, even after he was being pursued, he still used his eyeballs to easily enter the precog room. How? Don't you think they would have turned off his access? Hell, laid off employees get their card access turned off...surely, access to the most important room in the PreCrime building would have been turned off?!? Funnier still, even after he is IN JAIL, his wife uses his eyeball to gain access to the prison...with a gun...to free prisoners. You figure it out.

What about the movie saying "precogs can only see murders" yet Agatha the roaming precog can see rain coming, balloons needed, etc?

What about the movie saying all the precogs must be "connected" in order for it to work, yet with Agatha running around solo she is seeing the aforementioned umbrella, balloons, etc?

Why didn't the precogs see the Witwer murder since that was premeditated?

Spielberg has said that he added in extra twists and turns as the book didn't have enough...that's bogus. Anderton suspected even his 'loving' wife of possibly framing him in the book, or was it Witwer, or was it... plenty of twists. Anderton electing, at the very end of the book, to go through with the actual killing, was also very interesting.

I feel bad for Spielberg. He's washed up. He hasn't made a decent flick since the 90's. I just hope he doesn't ruin any more of my favorite books or short stories.

***spoilers*** ***spoilers*** ++Spoilers++

People need to remember that this movie is a reimagination of the 1963 BOOK...not the 1968 movie.

Also, the ending of Burton's Apes equals the ending of the BOOK...why blame or criticize Burton for remaining faithful to the BOOK? If you have fault with the ending, take it up with the BOOK...not the movie. Stop acting all surprised (er, ignorant) about the ending of the Burton Apes. Better yet, go read the book and compare for yourselves. Reading takes time and effort, of course.

The POTA Book, written in 1963, was written by Pierre Boulle. He also wrote the Bridge Over The River Kwai.

This movie does a good job of updating the original premise put forth in the BOOK, without giving away everything and explaining every little detail in full technicolor for the movie going audience. Both the book and Burton's Apes are similar in a few ways. For one, the main character(s) travels through time, into the future, to a planet inhabited by Apes. We learn that the planet was once ruled by humans (Thade's father and the pistol, a doll in the Book), and that the Apes would prefer keeping this secret. Finally, the main character returns to Earth only to find out that Apes inhabit Earth.

On the main plot points, the Burton Apes is similar to the BOOK, even the ending. On lesser points, the book and this movie are also similar. The Apes, having taken control of the planet, haven't made much technological progress in the last X thousand years...still using tools, weapons, etc., that existed way back when, when they took control. The book explains this by mentioning that while the Apes are good with mimicking what they see already...they lack the ability, for the most part, for creating new ideas. They simply took over, while humans left for the jungle areas and lived that way for 10,000 years (a short time in evolution standards, agreed) until the main character (Ulysse) shows up. The "ape hunts human" scene in the beginning of both movies is similar to the book as well.

In other areas, they diverge. In the book, the humans cannot talk (much like the 1968 movie version) and Nova plays a large role. The Apes don't speak English (actually French...the main character (Ulysse) in the book is French) but rather an ape language, so at first Ulysse doesn't understand them. He learns their language in time, however. Both Cornelius and Zira play critical roles in the book, similar to the 1968 movie as well. However, Dr. Zaius is not as powerful in the book as he was in the 1968 movie; in fact, "gorillas" are the dominant players in the book, the Chimps and Orangutans are in leadership positions only because gorillas allow them and support them in those roles. The gorillas are the real doers in the book.



The book was more of a satire...an updated Gulliver's Travels, that poked fun at society, thinkers, educated people, etc. The ending of the book involves Ulysse, Nova, and their son returning to Earth. On both the trip away from Earth, and the return to earth, much time has elapsed on Earth (due to scientific explanations of which I won't bore anyone). When they land, Ulysse is expecting to see futuristic vehicles and buildings and so forth, and is at first surprised that things look not much different than when he left (which would have been hundreds/thousands of years previously). He is shocked, of course, when he sees a police car pull up and 2 gorillas step out. At that moment, he realizes that what happened on the Planet of the Apes (decline of Humans, rise of Apes, not much technological change for X thousand years) also happened on Earth!

In the movie, this is not entirely clear. What really happened, it appears, in the movie is that Wahlberg returns to Earth well into the future (not the present) and learns that humans declined, apes took over, and not much technological advances occurred in between. In other words, the ending of the Burton Apes is similar to the book! The explanation of "Honest Ape" Thade at the end could be one of two things, at least. One, it could be a monument to another "Thade" that rose to power on Earth and has no connection whatsover to the Thade left, in captivity and decidedly NOT killed on the Planet of the Apes. Or two, it could be that Thade escaped from his cell, commandeered a flying vessel (either repaired the one in the water, or perhaps another pod lands shortly after the chimp's did) and flies to Earth at a time much sooner than Wahlberg and precipitates an uprising leading to the downfall of Man and rise of Apes.

In all, a very interesting movie based on a very interesting and funny BOOK that provides the viewer with much to think about. Special effects are very good, and while I don't think it's a perfect movie by any stretch, I do think it's definitely worthwhile and entertaining, worthy of seeing. Also, read the book...and stop complaining about the ending of the Burton Apes.