Flash Movie Review: Dredd
Driving around the city, it has become more and more I wish I had the authority to be the judge, jury and executioner for the crazy drivers around me. The guy who was brushing his teeth and rinsing out with a can of soda while driving would get canned by me. Or the woman who was weaving out of her lane because she was putting on her makeup would be brushed off the road if I had a say. And do not get me started on the parent who was too busy talking on their cell phone at the grocery store to notice their child pulling items off the shelf and onto the floor. If I was in charge there would me more parking spaces and less traffic on the road. Not being a follower of Judge Dredd, I went into this movie with only a vague memory of the 1995 Sylvester Stallone film. Set in the future, citizens lived in huge mega towers that reached 200 floors. The police were known as judges since they had the authority to arrest, try and if need be instantly execute felons. Judge Dredd, played by Karl Urban (Star Trek, The Bourne Supremacy) was a top judge who was assigned a female rookie to train. Cassandra Anderson, played by Olivia Thirlby (Juno, No Strings Attached), was no ordinary judge; she possessed strong psychic abilities. Called to a brutal crime scene, the two became trapped in one of the mega towers, with a bounty placed on their heads by the evil drug lord Ma-Ma, played by Lena Headley (300, Game of Thrones-TV). With the odds stacked against them, the two judges would have to outwit and outlast the constant stream of thugs hell bent on killing them. Karl Urban took this role to heart, not once removing his helmet to give his face some screen time. Olivia did a fine job of acting in this tense film. The special effects were good, especially when showing the effects of the mind altering drug Slo-Mo. What lacked in this movie was sheer excitement; I never felt emotionally engaged with the action scenes. They came across as if they had been over rehearsed, casting a dullness onto the scenes. It seemed as if each scene was volleying between chasing or shooting. The elements were all in place for this to be a better movie; ironically it was the execution of it that softened the impact. Graphic violence with blood.
2 1/2 stars
Posted on October 6, 2012, in Fantasy/Sci-Fi and tagged 2 1/3 stars, action, crime, drug lord, karl urban, lena headley, olivia thirlby, science fiction, thriller. Bookmark the permalink. 6 Comments.
moviejoltz 
They screwed it up again? Damn! The best Dredd comics are awesome, and surely deserve better. A very strange world, and a self-parodic hero you can’t help admiring, just a little. Don’t know whether you saw glimpses of that. It’s unlikely Dredd will get another chance. Sad.
Actually, Dredd here closely resembles the comic counterpart far more than Stallone ever did. If you’re a fan of the Mega-City Judge, you’ll enjoy Urban’s performance. There is zero character development where Dredd himself is concerned (as it should be), a perfect representation of the law in that world. The character work is left to rookie Anderson, and Thirlby does well enough that there is a change in character between her introduction and the end. The violence is over the top as you would expect, the slo-mo sequences giving the comic book feel of the violence leaping off the page. It’s just the world that’s a little lacking given the budget they worked with and majority of the story taking place in the bock itself (and I won’t begrudge the design work that went into the Stallone film, loved the ABC Warrior and Mean Machine there).
Amazing movie I love it 🙂
I preferred The Raid to this one, it is interesting how two films can independently come up with the same type of idea at the same time.
I’m still trying to make up my mind whether to go see it or wait for it to come out on Netflix.
Only if you are a big fan of special effects then see it on the big screen. Otherwise, wait for it on DVD.