DREDD
To be honest, beyond the Stallone Judge Dredd movie and the crossovers with Batman, I have no real knowledge of Joseph Dredd. I've always felt the want to delve into that world but when I picked up 2000AD it was always part way through a story and seemed inaccessible to me. Thanks to what little knowledge of the character I had, the trailers, cool ass posters and photo's from Dredd 3D my interest in this movie was piqued, it looked different to the 90's sanitised version (which even without really knowing the character I knew was wrong).
First off, the film has been marketed as "3D" in as much as it seems to be part of the title. But, as ever, the 3D adds nothing beyond a visceral thrill of blood, bullets and explosions escaping out of the screen toward you.
First off, the film has been marketed as "3D" in as much as it seems to be part of the title. But, as ever, the 3D adds nothing beyond a visceral thrill of blood, bullets and explosions escaping out of the screen toward you.
Visually this movie is quite nice. Pete Travis and his cohorts create a grimy world of tomorrow that is the perfect environment for all the characters (Judges, criminals and citizens) to exist in. Mega City One is never given the visual look of a city like Gotham, the spacing between the high rise tower blocks act as gravestones making it seem more like a cemetery for the ruins of the "Old World". Filming it in South Africa seems to have added an almost perceptible heat to the look of the film. Whilst it has a narrative purpose, however, the slow motion does get tedious (as slo-mo has the habit of doing in almost all movies).
The script of the movie is its major weakness. That's not to say it is bad, far from it. The problem comes down to the pacing/plotting, though this may be down to the running time that has been imposed on it. At 96 minutes the film is brisk and in certain places you have to get from A to C through B relatively quickly, relying too much in places on Anderson's psychic powers and never really fleshing out the antagonists role beyond the need for there to be one. Some of the dialogue is also a bit off, which in certain places may actually be more to do with the delivery of the lines by the actors.
Karl Urban, in a lot of ways, has the toughest job. He has to carry the movie and deliver a performance whilst being hampered by the fact he (true to the comics) is never seen without his helmet. Urban, however, delivers a fine performance. His Dredd is almost the living embodiment of anger, Dirty Harry without the humanity.
Olivia Thrilby acts as the audience gateway into this world. Thirlby perfectly captures the struggle in Anderson between being a Judge whilst holding onto her "humanity". Lena Headey, meanwhile, turns in a fine performance in a largely forgettable, by the numbers, villain role.
Dredd feels like an old school, ultra violent actionner in the Paul Verhoeven mold and, because it is an 18, the filmmakers do not hold back. It is a hugely enjoyable movie that will hopefully find the audience it deserves and that a sequel is commissioned so that the audience can further explore this world in the future.
Final Rating: 3/5
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