In a nutshell, I can start by saying this: Wonderful shots, some superb CGI, excellent Judges uniforms, an original soundtrack and some quirky character realisations. On the other hand, some choppy editing, an inconsistent tone and an overly convoluted plot. However, that last sentence in mind, I believe there is actually a quite simple remedy which involves separating out a gallant attempt at the amalgamation of two productions.
It's clear when Cursed Edge starts, we have someone who can produce some pretty slick titles – it looks professional, no question about it. That's not the extent of his abilities however – despite a quite ropey looking Mega City One shot early on in Episode 1(which rapidly improve in later episodes), later shots of it are glorious. City shots and wide shots are fully realised. Add in the score, which is original and I was starting to get a feel of Tron: Legacy over Dredd 2012.
Episode one introduces us to an undercover female Judge, who we later determine is Judge Hollister. It's simple enough, Hollister frames a punter, her pimp catches it on video – Hollister shoots all except the pimp. Pimp is arrested. We then change tone to see the assassination of a Judge, in a wood
.hmmmm, intriguing.
Episode 2 does somewhat drag out initially. After starting with an intro from Hollister, we do unfortunately take nearly four minutes to get back into a new story. It feels too long to get back to Hollister, after we are actually treated to an intriguing start. Hollingdale shifts us back into the woods, with the assassin that kills the Judge at the end of episode one(with a longer version). With a highly saturated look and ambient score, it takes on a sort of dreamlike quality. The simplicity of children playing, staring and ultimately, aggressively contrasted in the same way with the Judges death makes for a promising start to this episode.
Unfortunately this doesn't continue. Over the next two episodes, three separate plots are introduced that loosely tie together. The downside to this is an over convoluted plot line, where it's difficult to ascertain who the main protagonist is, who the characters are, their motivations and a lack of character development – at this stage.
In the course of the next two episodes, Hollister lightly pursues her own investigation (with a great introduction to Dirty Frank), new Judges Cho and Logan arrest a perp, Cho talks to Judge Struss about a new recruit(Smoke), a Judge Eames is asked to investigate the assassination with Brit Cit Judge Labelle, a Judge Smoke kills some gang members and we see a Geek Gorgan get aggressive and shoot down a drone, Eames and Labelle fight the assassin. Phew. All that in 2 mini episodes?? I know this isn't US TV Show, with US TV Show budget – but remember the old adage – KISS : Keep It Simple, Stupid. Wasn't this why Dredd 2012 was so memorable and effective??
What hasn't been made obvious is that Cursed Edge has incorporated a separate production into the overall plot. The American produced 'The Deep End' is carved into smaller chunks and distributed over the 2nd and 3rd episodes of Cursed Edge. As stated, all this really does is effectively add three additional characters that we're left scratching our heads at what they're doing and why we're seeing this.
The Deep End also feels tonally different to Cursed Edge. It tries to retain the simple, brute force, action, gritty Judge element of Dredd 2012. It even utilises a similar score. Contrast this to the sort of neon saturated, lens-flared (too much Mr Abrams, Mr Hollingdale??) ambient sounding film that Hollingdale is creating creates a total tonal shift that can be awkwardly felt.
Having viewed The Deep End later on as a single 10 minute feature in its own right utterly convinced me that the problems Cursed Edge is suffering are as a result of combining those films. Separating them would certainly strengthen The Deep End and make Cursed Edge more streamlined and get to the plot quicker. As it stands, Cursed Edge, with The Deep End introduces four additional characters(Cho/Logan/Struss/Smoke) on top of the three apparent leads of Cursed Edge(Hollister/Eames/Labelle), not to mention what looks like an antagonist in Geek Gorgon.
With so much going on, it's simple to see how we manage to get up to fifty odd minutes of airtime and haven't really progressed any story lines or they fall flat too early. Indeed, the Eames/Labelle investigation of the assassin (who we find out is called 'Bloodletter') is actually built up rather nicely to start with. Bloodletter is a crazy war veteran, who has already assassinated a Judge. Eames and Labelle are warned that they may be IN TROUBLE going after him into the woods (Genetically Engineered Organism by the way, not really woods). It looks good, but is quickly let down by a short fight where Bloodletter is killed rather quickly. The tension is lost, plot line apparently over. Eames never really feels in danger. It could have used more cat and mouse in this section. Less Deep End, more Cursed Edge. This in turn leads to less characters and more importantly, time for the characters to grow. The script could use a few more moments like these. A single moment in the shorts so far needs which we need more of : Labelle and Eames, whilst waiting for the GEO rep, Labelle asks Eames if he likes to swim. Eames just looks at him in disgust!
5/10 at the moment. However, I hear reshoots and RE-editing are on the way!
TL; DR : Great cinematography, great score, great uniforms, great CGI. Convoluted plot, not enough character development, separate feature 'The Deep End' needs splitting out.
2 out of 4 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
