Plot: Based on the British comic books, Dredd is set in an apocalyptic future where most of the United States is uninhabitable and 800 million people live in Mega-City One, a vast metropolis stretching from Boston to Washington D.C. With 17,000 crimes reported daily the only thing preventing total anarchy is the Hall of Justice and the Judges. Judges are literally judge, jury, and executioner, with the power to assess and pass sentence immediately--even if that sentence is death. Among the Judges the most famed and feared is Judge Dredd (Karl Urban). After Dredd is assigned a psychic rookie named Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) for evaluation, the duo's day starts bad and becomes worse. After responding to a multiple homicide call at Peach Trees, a residential building housing 70,000 inhabitants, Dredd and Anderson discover that the complex is ruled by the violent drug lord Ma-Ma (Lena Headley). Ma-Ma and her cronies produce the new designer drug Slo-Mo which makes the mind feel like it is moving at 1% its normal speed. Outnumbered and outgunned, Dredd and Anderson will be severely put to the test and not everyone will make it out alive.
Review: Finally! After the disastrous abortion of a film that was 1995's Judge Dredd, director Peter Travis and writer Alex Garland deliver a proper film that fully represents the dark anti-hero made famous by Fleet Comics. Visceral, bloody, and chock full of testosterone, Dredd is everything you want in an action film and more.
What makes Dredd succeed as a film is its complete lack of pretension. It doesn't try to be anything more than it is, which is simply an hour and a half balls-to-the-wall action flick where the bullets and the blood fly fast and often. Yet Garland's script is far from mindless and the violence, while gruesome and persistent isn't overly gratuitous. This is a violent post apocalyptic world where it is kill or be killed. The "every man for himself mentally" is reflected quite well.
Director Peter Travis does a superb job of keeping the pacing taunt and fast. Everything from the initial opening motorcycle chase scene, to the final confrontation with Ma-Ma vibrates with intensity that kicks your adrenaline into overdrive. Travis also did an excellent job of capturing the claustrophobic nature of this dystopian future. Everything is strung-out, run down, and pressed tight. This is due in large part to the wonderful cinematography of Anthony Dod Mantle. I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention the very realistic special effects. Some of the kills, especially in slow motion, are absolutely mesmerizing.
Of course Dredd would be worthless without a strong actor in the lead role and Karl Urban (The Lord of the Rings, Star Trek) steps up to the plate and hits a titanic home run. Forget Sly Stallone and his "I AM THE LAW!" crap in his Rocky-like voice, Urban fully captures the grim and brutal nature of the character. In fact we never see Dredd without his helmet on. This not only reflects the sentiment of a faceless justice system but also mimics the comics as well. Yes Dredd is monotone and scowls a lot but THAT'S HIS CHARACTER! He's supposed to be like that. Dredd is a person obsessed with following the law to the letter and has no qualms about summary executions. Dredd lives in a black and white universe and that's maybe part of his universal appeal. All of us at some level wish that we could have that absolute moral authority where there is no gray area. Dredd doesn't just have it--he lives it.
Olivia Thirlby balances out Dredd nicely as the wide-eyed psychic rookie Anderson. It is nice to see her evolution from a timid judge unsure of herself to a badass by the end of the film. I will admit however that sometimes her psychic abilities made for some convenient and beneficial moments throughout the course of the movie. Then again this is the world of Judge Dredd not Downton Abbey.
Have no fear. Dredd is a reboot that succeeds.
My rating: 8/10
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