Dredd Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: In a dystopian future, law and order are maintained by highly trained individuals called "Judges" who pass sentence on criminals.

Review: Forget everything you may know about the Stallone "Judge Dredd" and its campy nature, because this film distances itself a great deal while trying to remain more true to the comics. Although, I must admit, I did like the Stallone version with its over the top story and great one-liners (Law?! I AM the law!). This film actually reminded me more of a modern "Robocop" or something along those lines with just straight violent gunplay which this film is immensely successful with. The story is simple enough with Dredd training a rookie, named Anderson, as they investigate the deaths of some drug dealers. Little do they know that the drug dealers are connected to a much larger organization being run out of the giant housing tower they are investigating; the drug being sold is called "slo-mo" which makes your brain see things at a reduced speed, and the main villain is a female drug lord nicknamed Ma-Ma. I liked that they kept things simple with only four main characters: Dredd, Anderson, Ma-Ma, and Ma-Ma's main lackey, Kay. Unfortunately, I felt the only character that we come to learn anything about is Anderson. Anderson is interesting enough though since she has the ability to read people's minds and we get the most feel for her personality; her powers create the best moments of the film and allow for some cool scenarios. On the other hand, Dredd is just a one-dimensional killing machine, Ma-Ma only has a minor backstory, and Kay is just a throwaway villain. I really wanted more of a backstory for Dredd himself since this is his film, and because we are supposed to be establishing his character; this film felt more like a sequel than a beginning. It was as if the writers imagined that the audience would be familiar with Dredd and know how he is and why he's that way, but, alas, that is not really the case for the casual viewer. In fact, this is my main complaint with the movie overall because it's a solid action film that keeps you engaged, but is plagued by this feeling that you have no idea why this world is the way it is, you just have to accept it. We often see Anderson's psychic powers at work so why not introduce tidbits of backstory about Dredd through Anderson accidentally reading his mind at various points of the movie? This could have given us more depth to the character and kept the story moving at the same time. Oh well. Despite my complaints I rated this film so high because it has good acting (especially from Karl Urban as Dredd since he never removes his helmet), awesome action scenes, impressive visuals, and just the right pacing to keep you interested. I would have liked this movie even more had it not left me with a shallow feeling afterward. As it stands, however, it is a great foray into R-rated action that we so rarely see nowaday. You should definitely watch this movie if your a Judge Dredd fan or appreciate real action films.

Notable Moment: When Anderson kills the one corrupt Judge. It's funny because the Judge thinks Anderson is an easy kill, but has no clue Anderson can read minds.

Final Rating: 7/10