Dredd 3D (you will be hard pressed to find a 2D but for once the 3D is worth it...more on that later) sees 2000AD's hero Judge Dredd appear on the big screen for the first time since that god awful 90's version starring Sly Stallone and Rob Schneider (that is the last time I will mention that film however I have just seen a review on IMDB that claims this is an unneccesary reboot of that film...I am seething).
The basic plot is very similar to another of this year's best films, The Raid, but each film was produced independantly of one another and therefore the similarities are just unfortunate coincidence. Dredd sees Dredd himself take the law to one of Mega City 1's criminal hotspots. He is joined by rookie Anderson as they work their way up one of the futuristic tower blocks in an effort to lay the law down on the main antagonist of the plot Ma Ma and her empire built on the drug Slo-Mo.
Dredd is played by Karl Urban, not that you see any of him except his chin. I haven't read any of the 2000AD stories involving Dredd so I can't give you an assessment of how this portrayal matches up to comics, however Urban plays it as if he is a futuristic Clint Eastwood, snarling his way through the dialogue and capturing the detached nature of a judge's role perfectly.
Dredd's assistant Anderson is played by Olivia Thirlby who you may or may not recognise from Juno. Her character has psychic abilities (which comes in handy!!!) as she goes on trial to see if she has what it takes to make it as a Judge. Based on the film, she couldn't have picked a tougher trial!
The plot is fuelled by this drug called Slo-Mo which, when inhaled, slows time down and creates all these pretty colours. It is a fantastic viewing experience seeing the effects of this in 3D. I am not usually a fan of 3D as its never normally worth the ridiculous price, however I thought the use of it in Dredd really added to the film and was used far more creatively in this than something like Avatar.
Overall Dredd 3D gets 4 zombie brains out of 5 for me. The director and Alex Garland, the guy who wrote The Beach and 28 days later, have both said they would love to make this into a trilogy of Dredd films and having watched the 1st one I can definitely see the scope to explore the world of Dredd in subsequent films. Therefore go watch this film and make sure they get enough money to pursue this project to its full potential!
P.S. If anyone can find somewhere that creates a Judge badge with your name on it then please let me know. I want one in my life!!!
2 comments:
yes it was so much better than the last film ,
there was some nice comic related items to see as well.
this probably wasnt what you meant but
http://www.michaelowencarroll.com/judgebadge.htm
I think that's the closest I am going to get to a Judge badge, thank you for finding it!
If you enjoyed Dredd, make sure you check out Looper (my review is going to be on this site from Thursday)
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