Dredd

Reviews from the Dark Side presents
Dredd
Released 9/21/12, now in theaters

Dredd ends the Summer movie season as it began by placing another comic book hero in the spotlight. Directed by Pete Travis, this version of the anti-hero is not connected in any way to the 1995 film adaptation starring Sylvester Stallone. Karl Urban takes the reigns as the titular character. Lena Headley and Olivia Thirlby co-star

Later in the third millennium, much of the world, including the United States, is an irradiated wasteland. Humanity’s survivors have flocked to the protection of immense city-states known as Mega-Cities. The judicial system within these structures has been replaced by a new peacekeeping force to keep order amidst the chaos. It’s the era of the Judges. Judges are the cities’ police forces, juries, and executioners all in one. Sometimes they act as all three in the span of seconds. Dredd is a no-nonsense Judge based in Mega-City One, a land of 800 million residents spanning from what used to be Boston to Washington D.C. at its southernmost tip by some accounts. The laws in Mega-City One are harsh for good reason. An estimated 17,000 crimes are reported daily. Recently, a new drug called “Slo-Mo” has hit the streets manufactured and distributed by crimelord, Madeline Madrigal, also known as, Ma-Ma (Headley).

Dredd is assigned as a training officer for rookie Judge Anderson (Thirlby). There is nothing particularly special about Anderson’s training record. In fact, it’s awful as she has failed every Judge’s test. However, the Hall of Justice in Mega-City One wants Anderson on the force due to her psychic abilities.

Dredd and Anderson respond to an incident at the 200-story slum tower known as Peach Trees. This also happens to be Ma-Ma’s base of operations. Dredd and Anderson are investigating the deaths of three men who fell from the tower skinned alive before hitting the pavement(courtesy of Ma-Ma’s henchmen). The Judges encounter the crimelord’s minion, Kay, who Anderson psychically deduces was involved in the killings. When the Judges attempt to take Kay in for questioning, Ma-Ma’s forces seize the tower’s security room and lock down the building and entire block effectively trapping the Judges. The thick blast shields enclosing the block make the call for back up impossible. And Ma-Ma makes her intentions abundantly clear complete with a Gatling gun barrage. There’s only one hope for the Judges under siege. Capture Ma-Ma before they both become very dead. But they will have to go through her men, guns, and corrupt Judges on Ma-Ma’s payroll to do it.

Dredd is not a perfect movie (although very good). But, it is a tremendous improvement over its predecessor. Faint praise, I know, but comparing the two movies is still comparing the smell of roses to the smell of raw sewage. I’m not hugely familiar with the character of Judge Dredd from the comics. I do know he is a hardcase who is not to be crossed. I liked Karl Urban’s gruff whisper while speaking as Dredd. It’s a little like what I wished Christian Bale would have done in the recent Batman movies. Urban gave Dredd a presence that represents what the character should be. A very dangerous man. Here’s another thing I liked. Urban kept his helmet on the entire time. You only saw the actor’s mouth and chin which is how I’ve usually seen the character. A small thing, I know. And I’m sure the comic book Dredd has a face. But one thing I had a problem with in Stallone’s Judge Dredd was that the Dredd character spent much of the movie out of uniform. This also meant Stallone got ample time to mug for the cameras as if we needed to know who it was under the Judge’s helmet. This is also the problem I had with what should have been a deformed Deadpool being the ridiculously handsome Ryan Reynolds in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. But I digress. Hopefully, you get my point.

Dredd is sometimes gruesomely violent which fits in perfectly to this dystopian future Earth setting. There are darkly comic moments that will give the audience some good chuckles. I didn’t see the film in 3D, but, I now kind of wished I had for the “Slo-Mo” scenes. Briefly, Slo-Mo is a drug that slows its user’s perception of time. I’m sure the scenes where characters fell through the air while on the drug looked incredible in a 3D format. However, I have to come back to Urban as he almost single-handedly made this movie as enjoyable for me as it was. His whispering, Eastwood-esque voice and humor stole the show.

Dredd is one of the better movies I have seen during this summer season and should not be missed.

The Dark Lord of the Sith says:

***3/4 stars

Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.