The first film adaptation of Judge Dredd is probably made for Sylvester Stallone's career, but it tones down the character by making him a generic hero with a wimpy sidekick and a love interest, fighting a bunch of hammy villains. Much worse is he mostly removes his helmet and shows his entire face which is a horrible sin to the character. This version, Dredd, is a lot darker and has more respect to the source material. The difference is it aims to be a Sci-Fi Noir Thriller than an Adventure Fantasy. Some might think it's just another action film, but it turns out to be one of the most intense action films of the year. Although, the plot isn't quite fresh. The film is still an entertaining ninety minute thrill ride.
One thing you should know about Judge Dredd is he is not your average hero. Unlike most heroes, he's faceless, fearless, grim, lawful, and unsympathetic to his enemies. It's an intriguing comic book character that is worth rooting for. The story is straightforward. It doesn't explain anything about the "Cursed Earth" or the back story of the main protagonist. The intro briefly explains about the city but the rest is all about the mission. The main plot is quite similar to another action film, The Raid: Redemption. A band of law enforcers trapped inside an apartment building, ambushed by criminals who wanted to kill them. Except, the martial arts is replaced with a sense of Police Detective and Science Fiction with bigger and louder gunfights. That is the interesting part of the film. The plot may not be fresh all in all but the film is clever enough to put things together than just throw some random action set pieces.
Karl Urban lives it up to the character. Besides of looking awesome with the helmet, he makes every scene excitingly fun. Olivia Thirlby plays her role pretty well as Dredd's rookie sidekick. Lena Heady is threatening enough as Ma-Ma. The action scenes are mostly gunfights. They are slick and intense. The opening chase scene was the craziest action of the film. The rest is quite stylish and explosive. The slow motion action scenes are pretty cool especially when there's blood and gore exploding on screen. It interestingly shows the overlong slow trippiness of the "Slow-Mo" drug. The production design and the special effects are solid. The music score adds the momentum of the action. I don't know what to say about the 3D.
The plot is kind of weak but as a whole the film gets it right to its source material. Keeping Dredd's helmet on and setting it on a bleak grim world already makes this a worthy adaptation. I could've enjoyed it more if I saw the full version of the film. The version here in my country censors the best gore of the picture. It's still somewhat gory. The film has the tension and the style. Dredd leaves the generic hero arc behind and let the Judge do what he does best.
One thing you should know about Judge Dredd is he is not your average hero. Unlike most heroes, he's faceless, fearless, grim, lawful, and unsympathetic to his enemies. It's an intriguing comic book character that is worth rooting for. The story is straightforward. It doesn't explain anything about the "Cursed Earth" or the back story of the main protagonist. The intro briefly explains about the city but the rest is all about the mission. The main plot is quite similar to another action film, The Raid: Redemption. A band of law enforcers trapped inside an apartment building, ambushed by criminals who wanted to kill them. Except, the martial arts is replaced with a sense of Police Detective and Science Fiction with bigger and louder gunfights. That is the interesting part of the film. The plot may not be fresh all in all but the film is clever enough to put things together than just throw some random action set pieces.
Karl Urban lives it up to the character. Besides of looking awesome with the helmet, he makes every scene excitingly fun. Olivia Thirlby plays her role pretty well as Dredd's rookie sidekick. Lena Heady is threatening enough as Ma-Ma. The action scenes are mostly gunfights. They are slick and intense. The opening chase scene was the craziest action of the film. The rest is quite stylish and explosive. The slow motion action scenes are pretty cool especially when there's blood and gore exploding on screen. It interestingly shows the overlong slow trippiness of the "Slow-Mo" drug. The production design and the special effects are solid. The music score adds the momentum of the action. I don't know what to say about the 3D.
The plot is kind of weak but as a whole the film gets it right to its source material. Keeping Dredd's helmet on and setting it on a bleak grim world already makes this a worthy adaptation. I could've enjoyed it more if I saw the full version of the film. The version here in my country censors the best gore of the picture. It's still somewhat gory. The film has the tension and the style. Dredd leaves the generic hero arc behind and let the Judge do what he does best.