But I really did want to honestly see a great Judge Dredd movie, one which was pure to the original character, and reflected the quality of writing and great artwork that I had seen from the issues of 2000 AD that I did encounter. So, when I saw that a new movie was coming out, Dredd, this year, I was pretty stoked. Here was a chance for a possible reboot of a franchise that went so far off it's mark in it's first real outing.
Rather than the huge conspiracy that we were fed in the original Stallone flick, this new one covers Dredd taking a rookie Judge, Anderson (played by Olivia Thrilby, who you may remember as Juno's slutty friend from Juno) out on an evaluation patrol. They receive a call from one of the giant living quarter complexes (200 floors with the population of Las Cruces, New Mexico in each) of a triple homicide. Anderson's psychic powers result in her finding the culprit, who also happens to be one of the top lieutenants to the complexes' drug operations run by Maw-Maw, played by Lena Headley, who owns the role and gives it the sort of menace that is needed to counter the performance of Urban. She has the entire complex shut down, with orders for her gang to murder the two judges. Cut off, the pair of Judges have to fight their way through the floors in hopes of taking down Maw-Maw, and surviving in the process.
Just to let you all know, this is easily one of the better action flicks to come out this year, forgoing the bloated conspiricy story from the original in favor of a claustrophobic, fast paced thriller that does not let up from start to finish. The cast is deliberately kept small, and intimate, and because of that, we see enough of a resolution from beginning to end as far as what the ultimate fates of our leads goes to. It's nice, as there aren't many instances where we wonder, "What, what happened to so and so?"
However, this is a film where, inevitably, it's going to be compared to it's predecessor, the cult classic Judge Dredd, even though it shouldn't. But, for the sake of argument, let's do a side by side comparison. The difference between the two films is evident right from the start, beginning with Dredd himself. For starters, let's take a look at how Dredd is portrayed in the comic.
Hat tip to Egotastic! for the image
What a difference! Stallone's appearance is much closer to that of the comic counterpart, but in this case, this is an instance of when an outfit should pay a homage to the original, rather than directly copy it. In the former's case, Urban's outfit looks functional as an actual set of protective tactical gear, while at the same time having enough of the touches of the original (the enlarged badge, the eagle and shoulder decorations, and the helmet) for him to resemble Judge Dredd. Stallone, on the other hand, just looks flat out ridiculous, with the overly small helmet (any shorter and it would be a yarmulke), the huge ass shoulder pieces, and what appears to be a damn body suit that lacks any sort of protection what so ever. Except for the huge codpiece, because seriously, how hilarious would it be for the might Judge Dredd to be taken down by a kick to the gonads. .
What also helps is that Karl Urban once again takes a character and gives it such a element of life and intensity that he draws you to him when he's on the screen. Stallone's portrayal of Dredd came off very much like that of a boxer past his prime. Consider Oscar De La Hoya late in his career. Sure, you respected him for what he had done. But you didn't fear him like people might have once had. And that's how I felt about the original Judge Dredd film, that you never really got the sense of Dredd as being worth the almost reverent type of respect that he received from the other characters. Urban, on the other hand, owns this role as much as he did when he played Leonard McCoy in Star Trek. He's a capable lawman, one able to think on his feet as much as go by the book, while also showing a genuine passion for the occupation that he has taken up. However, unlike Stallone's Dredd, who was pretty much an unemotional brick that remained sealed off until the end of the film, Urban allows for some human emotion and contact, as witnessed with his camaraderie with Anderson. He's absolutely solid, and is arguably as great a case of casting as Christian Bale and Robert Downey Jr. were for Batman and Iron Man.
Much of the technology also looks the same way, as things are meant to be much less prettier, but much more functional. We see this in Dredd's weapon, the Lawgiver, which is actually larger in this film than it is in the original Judge Dredd film, but with the weapon's purpose of firing multiple purpose ammunition, this again makes much more sense. I never got the reason in the original film how their pistol could incorporate all of it's functions in such a small package. The Judge's motorcycles are also simplified, with the huge, steroid pumped motorcycles that the Judges tooled around in the Stallone film now being replaced by stark, functional, and efficient rides. Even then, though, I prefer this tech to the one in the previous films. It's sexy in a useful way.
The visuals on this take on Dredd are excellent. Mega City One now actually looks more of what you would realistically would picture a city that houses hundreds of millions to look like: spartan and functional. This is a no frills city, designed to house and contain. There are no aesthetically beautiful areas of the city, nothing to inspire or draw the eye. It's simply housing, nothing more. Due to the budget, and the approach of the film, we don't get to explore much of the city, which is kind of a shame. I would have loved to have seen what some of the more higher class areas of the city looked like, as well as the desert of the Cursed Earth itself. That's the one thing that the original Dredd really has over this film, is that it's Mega City One was prettier to look at. The effects are small, but well used. There's enough blood in this film to satisfy the gorehounds out there, although to be honest, this is probably one of the things that will keep some away from the film. There's literally a bloodbank's full of blood shed in this film.
The effects of slow-mo were shown in the trailers are used several times throughout the film, for good effect. We see a gunfight through the eyes of a slow-mo user, and even Maw-Maw's final fate are used through the effect of slow-mo, during which we are even shown the scale of the standoff between Maw-Maw's gang and the two Judges. It's well used, even though we also see the large amount of blood at the end that will, again, make some squeamish.
All in all, Dredd is a great film, and one that I would recommend all of you to see. However, Dredd didn't perform well in the box office, and hasn't made it's budget back, which will likely kill any future sequels, which is a shame. It certainly deserves to have it's story told further, and there are shittier movies that are out there that have gotten sequels. What hurt the film, in my opinion, was the Stallone original, which was so bad, and did such a poor job of introducing a classic foreign character domestically, that it left a poor taste in almost everyone's mouths. And that's a shame, because this is a great flick that deserves a lot more love than it's been shown at the box office. Give it a chance.
The effects of slow-mo were shown in the trailers are used several times throughout the film, for good effect. We see a gunfight through the eyes of a slow-mo user, and even Maw-Maw's final fate are used through the effect of slow-mo, during which we are even shown the scale of the standoff between Maw-Maw's gang and the two Judges. It's well used, even though we also see the large amount of blood at the end that will, again, make some squeamish.
All in all, Dredd is a great film, and one that I would recommend all of you to see. However, Dredd didn't perform well in the box office, and hasn't made it's budget back, which will likely kill any future sequels, which is a shame. It certainly deserves to have it's story told further, and there are shittier movies that are out there that have gotten sequels. What hurt the film, in my opinion, was the Stallone original, which was so bad, and did such a poor job of introducing a classic foreign character domestically, that it left a poor taste in almost everyone's mouths. And that's a shame, because this is a great flick that deserves a lot more love than it's been shown at the box office. Give it a chance.
