The new and improved take on the British comic book character, Judge Dredd, is part of an elite squad of law enforcers in the post apocalyptic world of Mega-city One. He is a motorcycle riding Judge, authorized to act as judge, jury and executioner, dispensing retail justice on the move. Judge Dredd is one of the top agents, set to evaluate new recruit Cassandra Anderson, a psychic on her first day on probation.
They pair up to investigate a gang execution of three dealers, brutally skinned alive and tossed off a high rise building. The building is in control of drug lord Ma-Ma, who is bringing the hot new drug 'slo-mo', which slows down the user's perception to 1% of normal; so the users will experience life in slow motion, while the drug is in effect. When Dredd and Anderson pick up a key suspect, who is likely to testify and bring down Ma-ma's operation, she shuts down the building and starts an all-out war against the two Judges before they can communicate with headquarters.
The action is superb, the effects are brilliant - especially how the slo-mo drug effects are shown - and the tone is befittingly dark. Karl Urban is perfect for the title role - serious, to the point, fastidious, methodical; a far cry above Stallone's 1995 interpretation. The movie is graphically violent, though, so I think it may appeal to all.
I loved the movie; it was one of the best action movie experiences I've seen in recent times, but I have to nitpick. Firstly, the drug, slo- mo... Slowing down time to 1% normal is just waaay too intense. 1 percent normal would mean that one minute of time would be perceived as one and a half hour. That is far slower than the effects shown. I know that's a weirdly specific point to nitpick on, but that just bugged me. And I have an even more specific nit to pick on - the policing rate. Dredd tells Anderson that the Judges are so understaffed that they can only effectively monitor less than ???% of violent crimes in the city. With such an alarming rate, I would expect any organization to have lower entry thresholds for new recruits. But apparently, they still restrict recruits to extremely stringent standards. I know... Silly nitpicks, but somehow, these things bothered me.
Another issue - not a nitpick this time - was the 'talking villain syndrome', the contrived plot device that has the villain talking with the hero before killing him, giving him ample time to escape. While we have accepted this as standard fare for action movies, Dredd takes this bit to comic levels. The extend to which it was used here (in one instance) would have fit a Scary Movie franchise more than a serious film.
Despite these issues, the movie gets all my thumbs up. Hope they get to make a sequel and keep the franchise running.
They pair up to investigate a gang execution of three dealers, brutally skinned alive and tossed off a high rise building. The building is in control of drug lord Ma-Ma, who is bringing the hot new drug 'slo-mo', which slows down the user's perception to 1% of normal; so the users will experience life in slow motion, while the drug is in effect. When Dredd and Anderson pick up a key suspect, who is likely to testify and bring down Ma-ma's operation, she shuts down the building and starts an all-out war against the two Judges before they can communicate with headquarters.
The action is superb, the effects are brilliant - especially how the slo-mo drug effects are shown - and the tone is befittingly dark. Karl Urban is perfect for the title role - serious, to the point, fastidious, methodical; a far cry above Stallone's 1995 interpretation. The movie is graphically violent, though, so I think it may appeal to all.
I loved the movie; it was one of the best action movie experiences I've seen in recent times, but I have to nitpick. Firstly, the drug, slo- mo... Slowing down time to 1% normal is just waaay too intense. 1 percent normal would mean that one minute of time would be perceived as one and a half hour. That is far slower than the effects shown. I know that's a weirdly specific point to nitpick on, but that just bugged me. And I have an even more specific nit to pick on - the policing rate. Dredd tells Anderson that the Judges are so understaffed that they can only effectively monitor less than ???% of violent crimes in the city. With such an alarming rate, I would expect any organization to have lower entry thresholds for new recruits. But apparently, they still restrict recruits to extremely stringent standards. I know... Silly nitpicks, but somehow, these things bothered me.
Another issue - not a nitpick this time - was the 'talking villain syndrome', the contrived plot device that has the villain talking with the hero before killing him, giving him ample time to escape. While we have accepted this as standard fare for action movies, Dredd takes this bit to comic levels. The extend to which it was used here (in one instance) would have fit a Scary Movie franchise more than a serious film.
Despite these issues, the movie gets all my thumbs up. Hope they get to make a sequel and keep the franchise running.