Dredd

A gritty ride that jumps right in & doesn't stop. It's simple & effectively meets its goals of hyper violent suspenseful crime content. The world building is brief but immersive with dull colors except for the gorgeously shot intoxication scenes.

Dredd is a simple action film with a simple premise that suffers from the legacy of a horrid 1995 Hollywood film adaptation to a British cult comic (2000 AD). It's a shame a sequel never saw the light of day, since Karl Urban was superb in his portrayal of Judge Dredd.

I've been a Dredd fan for thirty years now, but I'm not about to give this movie adaptation of my favourite comic character a ridiculously high rating purely from some misguided sense of loyalty. Instead, I'm going to give it a deservingly high score because, quite simply, it is a very good film, one that successfully captures the essence of the 2000AD strip, delivering brutal action by the bucket-load, excellent central performances, and inspired direction, all enhanced by breathtaking state-of-the-art 3D special effects.

After the debacle that was Stallone's Judge Dredd (1995), the makers of this movie have clearly made their prime directive to please hardcore Dredd fans, and it shows: the screenplay, by Alex Garland, remains very faithful to the spirit of the comic, and in Karl Urban, we now have the perfect Dredd-all raspy voice and humourless grimace, it looks as though the character has jumped straight onto the screen from the pages of 2000AD (helmet intact). Similarly, it would be hard to imagine anyone more suitable than Olivia Thirlby as rookie Psi-Judge Anderson (and believe me, I've tried!).

Is Dredd 3D my 'ideal' Dredd movie? Not quite... made for a comparatively meagre budget of $45million, it would be hard pushed to live up to my impossibly high expectations (just realising the Mega-City One of my dreams would require way more money than it cost to make this entire film). That said, it is definitely a massive step in the right direction, and if it is the financial success that it genuinely deserves to be, who knows what treats await us in the future: The Cursed Earth, Judge Cal, Judge Death, The Apocalypse War.... I'm salivating like a Klegg just thinking about it.

** EDIT - 5th April 2021 ** Just watched Dredd again, this time without the benefit of 3D, and found it less impressive than I remembered. I was struck more than before by how poorly Mega City One is presented, with vehicles that look like they're from now instead the end of the 21st century. Little effort was spent in making the environment appear futuristic - things like computer keyboards and electric fans are still as they are today. Budget was clearly an issue, and it shows.

Also, the whole 'Wait' conversation doesn't work for me. The bad judge would've plugged Dredd in the head instead of allowing him to buy time.

I still love Urban's portrayal, and the violence is cool, but I really hope that if there is a next time, they make the film look more like the comics.

Old rating: 8/10 New rating: 6.5/10, rounded up to 7. It's still good, just not great.

This definitely isn't one of those movies with a lot of character development, but its not your typical action flick either. This is a beautiful work of art with a lot of stylized violence, desolate alleys with shady characters and ill intentions. The grungy neon lights of a dystopian future, the scarlet blood and glimmering glass, the hauntingly beautiful slow motion, what makes this movie great is definitely the visual aspects.

Dredd himself is very one dimensional, forcedly so. Stern, analytical, gruff, his toughness masking a side of him the audience never actually gets to see. His character is described perfectly in the first few minutes by his new psychic apprentice, which is the last look you get inside of his head before its slammed shut. He is a man who takes his duty seriously to the point that it consumes him, defines him.

Ma-ma is sadistically brilliant. Her mob-style domination of peach tree creates a claustrophobic apprehension for a threat far too big to take on in a box far too small to escape. The terror by which she controls the people is believable and vicious. Whats lost in character development is regained by the subtle twisted moments and reactions to the threats imposed on each of the characters.

The psychic scenes were perhaps the most well done and paints a very nice psychological battle between the judge in training and her prisoner. I would've actually enjoyed more of these as they were very surreal and artistic. Its also cool to see the way she breaks him down even after he thinks he has the upper hand.

Slow mo, the drug this movie centers around, makes for some very awesome fight scenes on par with Sherlock Holmes 2: a Game of Shadows and the Matrix. The visual effects were very well executed and i myself being a visual effects artist, have only one complaint. At some points the blood was a bit oversaturated and toonish, which was likely in attempt to match the comic but draws away from a few scenes.

I have no familiarity with the source material, but I can safely say that as an action flick, Dredd delivers. It has a simple premise, simple characters and some solid action. And sometimes that's all you need.

Performances are fine across the board, Karl Urban does a good job as the titular character, giving the character a good level of ruthless efficiency combined with slight hints of human decency. Olivia Thirlby as Anderson also does a good job. Both characters are simple with not much to speak of when it comes to development and while that does mean the action is the sole focus, I prefer action films to have some semblance of character arcs. The antagonist is serviceable, Lena Headey does a decent job.

As for the action, its pretty good. They did not hesitate to push the violence to extreme levels. The sequences are creative, gory and satisfying. There are some instances of CG looking a tad fake, but that can be excused due to some characters' perspectives being affected by a drug.

This film also does a decent amount of worldbuilding. It gives you just enough information to understand the premise and the system. This film definitely feels like it needed a bigger budget sequel but alas, we have none. Despite the plot being simple, there are definitely aspects that I wish were more developed and definitely odd moments of contrivance and convenience.

Overall, Dredd is a solid 90 minute thrill ride and a great way to just switch off and enjoy the violent spectacle, which the film succeeds at. Those wanting more substance may be left hanging, but those in for a fun time should definitely give this film a shot.