When I first saw a commercial for this film I felt indifferent. I hadn't heard of the graphic novels or of the 1990s Judge Dredd with Sylvester Stallone and Rob Schneider. I just watched the trailer and thought it looked like another generic action film. Luckily for me, my friend convinced me to see it, and I ended up watching it opening night. Here's my thoughts...
Synopsis
Dredd is set in a post apocalyptic Earth, in a desolate city known as Mega City 1. Although mostly just a ruin of the old world, the landscape is dominated by massive futuristic block towers. In this future Earth, there is a high amount of crime, and the only people who strive for order are the Judges, futuristic cops who wear cool helmets and keep the peace. Unlike regular cops Judges act as the Judge, Jury, and executioner. So they find the culprits and carry out the justice. The film itself focuses on Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) an extremely tough Judge who has a real knack for "justice" and Judge Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) a psychic Judge in training who Dredd takes on as his rookie. The film follows there attempt to investigate a triple homicide at a slum block called Peach Trees which escalades into a race to try and take down the Ma Ma clan and its leader Madeline Madrigal, who controls the slum block.
Because I went into this not expecting much, I was absolutely blown away. I expected it to be generic and boring, but what I got was unique and amazing. The whole dystopian atmosphere was done just right, and was reminiscent of other futuristic dystopian settings like Neo-Tokyo in Akira and Los Angeles in Blade Runner. The world that was created was a cool mix of the old and the new, with futuristic buildings towering over the ruins of present day architecture. The acting was also superb with Karl Urban, who played Eomer in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, doing a great job as a gruff mysterious Judge Dredd and Lena Heady, who plays Cerei Lannister in A Game of Thrones, doing a superb job as messed up drug lord Ma Ma. The other actors were fine too, but those two were the best in my opinion, and totally made the film that much better. Another great thing about the film, and something that makes it unique, is that there was virtually no romance whatsoever. None. I thought there was going to be some between Anderson and Dredd, but there wasn't. Although Romance can be a good thing, in a film like Dredd that's supposed to be bad ass to the core, it was better without. Although the focus was on its action, the film also had a surprisingly artistic side. Whether it was people falling 100 stories in extremely slow motion or Dredd cruising along on his motor bike while cool electronic music played in the background, it was obvious that each shot was planned in extreme detail.
The Bad
The only really bad thing about Dredd was that it took place mostly in one building, so they didn't really make use of the whole futuristic setting that they had created and teased in the opening shots. There was also a lot of cheesy one liners like "I am the Law!" and "Choke on this!" (as Dredd proceeds to karate chop a guys throat in).
Bottom Line
Other than the cheesy one liners, which were actually quite funny, and the lack of a diverse setting, Dredd was an action packed thrill ride which does exactly what it sets out to do. Kick Ass. Although, unlike a lot of extremely action oriented films, Dredd manages to kick ass and stay unique. With its amazing cast, incredible artistic direction, and fascinating (albeit under explored) setting.
