Movie Review - Dredd

Movie Title

Dredd

Year

2012

Genre

Action, Sci-Fi

Story

A new motion picture based on the British comic book 2000 AD’s bad@$$ Judge Dredd  (Karl Urban). This action-packed roller coaster ride (it’s a wild ride where the insanity doesn’t let up) takes place in a futuristic world where most of the Earth has been destroyed by a Third World War and national boundaries no longer exist and people all live in giant sized cities where criminals run rampant on the chaotic streets until Judges show up. Judge Dredd happens to be the meanest & baddest law-enforcement officer of Mega-City One.

 

In Mega-City One, a reality-altering drug called Slo-Mo has become an epidemic that’s slowly destroying the city. Judge Dredd, along with Trainee Psi-Judge Anderson (Olivia Thirlby), had been assigned to look into a multiple homicide in one of the city’s 3km high towers. The very tower where Slo-Mo head honcho, the sadistic Ma-Ma (Lena Headey, from Game of Thrones) had set-up her highly fortified HQ.

When Ma-Ma finds out that a Judge in within her tower, she commandeers a lock-down where all her minions (numbering in thousands) within the 3km high tower, start their hunt for the 2 Judges – Dredd & Anderson. 

Audiences really start to root for our 2 heroes and see how they get to survive the murderous onslaught!

Acting

At no point in the movie does Dredd remove his helmet. So we never get to see Karl Urban's face other than the dreaded (heh-heh) grimace. So despite not having the need to show any emotion other than that, it doesn't take away the enjoyment.

I have not seen Olivia Thirlby before this movie but she seems pretty capable in showing the tension of inexperience while trying to impress her supervisor, Dredd. 

Meanwhile, Lean Headey seems pretty menacing but somehow, I wasn't quite convinced as many of her minions could very well take her place as the villain.

Overall

Much better than the dismal Judge Dredd by Sylvester Stallone from 1995. This was very successful in portraying the no-nonsense Judge we all know and love. Plus, fans get introduced to Judge Anderson.

 

Despite the extreme violence, I rather enjoyed it (not for the violence but for the movie as a whole). I am hoping that the success of this one would lead to a sequel where we get to see Dredd's  arch-foe: Judge Death and the Dark Judges. Now that is a movie I (and I'm sure many other fan-boys) would LOVE to see.

Rating: 6.5/10