Review: Dredd (2012)
It’s been over a year since Dredd came out and I finally decided to sit down and watch it. Despite my skepticism (the first Judge Dredd movie was, after all, a load of crap), many friends had told me that it was a fun film. So without much in the way of expectations, I gave it a shot. And, I was pleasantly surprised taht a movie based almost purely on action scenes could have captured my attention so much.
The premise is simple - Dredd is a Judge (a sort of super-cop) in the wasteland world of the future. Mega-City One, one of the only habitable places on Earth, is home to about 800 million people. And with all those people comes a whole lot of crime. The movie begins with Dredd chasing down some crazy people and “judging” (i.e.: killing) them. It then moves rapidly forward, introducing Dredd to his new partner, a lady psychic by the name of
The pair of Judges make their way through a massive apartment complex (like 200 stories massive), discovering that there is a new drug in the city and that its manufacturing is all done there. The leader of the apartment's criminal elements is a ruthless woman who goes by the name of Ma-Ma. Dredd and Anderson must battle their way floor-to-floor, gunning down waves of bad guys and trying to outsmart Ma-Ma before they end up dead. Add to that a group of corrupt Judges come in to clean up the mess, and lots of bullets are fired, bodies blown into little pieces and huge chunks of apartment complex blown to bits.
Though there’s little in the way of story (almost nothing beyond the basic premise, in fact), the fun of Dredd is the string of action. Karl Urban plays a pretty good Judge Dredd despite the lack of character development and the world is atmospheric enough to bring the viewer in. The sets and special effects are excellent and even the acting is decent (what limited time is devoted to acting).
If you’re looking for something to just sit down and enjoy the chaos, Dredd fits the bill. I almost want to compare it to a movie like Die Hard, though it’s been too long since I’ve seen that one to make an accurate judgment on that. Still, Dredd is, in my opinion, a better film than its lukewarm 78/73% over at Rotten Tomatoes would suggest. Worth an hour-and-a-half of your time.
Photo Credits -
Dredd still courtesy of kickseat.com
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