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Originally written For F*** Magazine, Singapore
Movie
Review 18/9/12
DREDD
2012
Starring:
Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Lena Headey
Directed
by: Pete Travis
2012 has been quite the year for
marquee-name superheroes: Batman, Spider-Man, the Avengers…they’ve all made
quite the splash. Now, along comes the underdog: Judge Dredd, not from big guns
DC or Marvel, but British sci-fi comics imprint 2000 AD. Judge Joseph Dredd has
made it to the big screen once before in 1995’s Judge Dredd – though that left quite the bitter taste in the mouths
of many a 2000 AD devotee. Now, everyone’s favourite helmeted future lawman
hops back astride his lawmaster motorbike and into cinemas.
Our story takes place in Mega-City
One, a sprawling, chaotic hellhole of a megapolis on the east coast of what was
once North America. The only thing keeping the peace? The Judges of the Hall of
Justice, specially trained and equipped men and women who form an ultra-police
force of sorts. Joseph Dredd (Urban) is one such Judge, and today he’s tasked
with assessing newbie Judge Cassandra Anderson (Thirlby) by taking her out for
her first day in the field. She may not look like she has what it takes, but
Anderson is a powerful psychic empath, her skills a valuable asset to the
Judges. Dredd and Anderson go to investigate a triple homicide in the
mega-apartment complex Peach Trees, arresting clansman Kay (Wood Harris) - only
to find themselves trapped in the locked-down building by the ruthless drug
lord Ma-Ma (Headey), Ma-Ma bent on ensuring the Judges have no chance to take
Kay to interrogation. It’s 200 storeys of hell for Dredd and Anderson – and
judgement day for the scores of Ma-Ma’s henchmen out for their blood.
A common complaint among us
moviegoers these days is that Hollywood seems to be falling back increasingly
on ‘reboots’, ‘remakes’ and ‘re-imaginings’, that it seems studio executives
are content with coasting on an established franchise’s name as opposed to
coming up with something original. However, if ever there was a character and a
movie who needed a reboot, it would definitely have to be Judge Dredd. The 1995
film left a sour taste in the mouths of 2000 AD devotees – the tone was all
wrong, it was way too clean and commercialized, and Sylvester Stallone seemed
to huge amounts of trouble trying to pronounce the word ‘law’. The folks at
2000 AD seemed to share this sentiment, and legend has it that Judge Dredd’s
co-creator John Wagner walked up to Stallone on the set of the film and told
him “you’re shooting the wrong script.” Ouch.
It’s safe to say that 2012’s Dredd is an exponential improvement. The
first thing this one’s gotten right is the tone. The 1995 Judge Dredd was much too colourful and soft, but here we get the
impression that Mega-City One is truly the nastiest, nastiest place anyone
could ever have the misfortune of calling home. It’s been noted that many
recent films set in futuristic dystopias compromise a tad, with elements that
still make that world look attractive – well, Dredd isn’t one of them. Its milieu is unflinchingly depressing, as
raw a portrait of a city gone to hell in a hand basket as you’ll ever see
onscreen. This realm of grim squalor is
one where it would make sense to have a police force on steroids, as it would
seem to be the only way to even attempt to keep things in check, and the
filmmakers have successfully sold this
conceit. The illicit substance ‘slo-mo’, a drug that makes time seem like it’s
passing at 1% its normal speed, is a great excuse for some flashy slow-motion
shots that may seem gimmicky, but are honestly a nice break from the intensity
of it all.
And how about Dredd himself? Once
again, this film has topped its predecessor by leaps and bounds, Karl Urban is
a far, far better fit for the character than Stallone ever was. Urban marshals
a tough, uncompromising figure of justice, expertly balancing the sides of
underappreciated do-gooder and tough, no-nonsense supercop. In the hands of a
less-skilled actor, Dredd could have easily become a laughable,
overly-posturing caricature of macho bravado. However, Urban plays the part
with remarkable restraint, and it is also admirable that he turns in such a
riveting performance with his eyes obscured by his visor for the whole film (as
it should be) – the eyes being one of the greatest tools any actor has in
his/her arsenal.
Olivia Thirlby is a revelation as
Judge Anderson, and this could well her breakout role. She is fresh-faced and
beautiful, a rookie out of her depth but one who musters up every ounce of
courage to hide her fear and face the harshness of the outside world head-on.
Anderson’s conflict regarding excessive uses of force and the brutal nature of
the job is handled laudably by Thirlby; instead of slouching in a corner
bawling “I DON’T WANT TO SHOOT THAT MAN!” she’s able to convey the muted
turmoil in quite an understated fashion. There’s a fantastic scene where she
enters Kay’s mind, and as he tries to shock her with ghastly mental images, she
gamely one-ups the lowlife with mind games of her own. The other female
presence Lena Headey makes for an intimidating villainess, a large scar marring
the actress’s normally-gorgeous visage. Thing is, Ma-Ma isn’t a particularly
memorable or remarkable villain, and truth be told she doesn’t do much,
spending much of the film dictating her mooks as they do her dirty work for
her.
This leads us to the weaknesses of
the film. The story is laid out in pretty familiar fashion – it’s our heroes
trapped in the wrong place at the wrong time, the odds stacked 200 storeys
against them, having to fight their way to the big boss at the top floor. It’s
quite Die Hard, and really, really
reminded this reviewer of the Indonesian sleeper hit martial arts movie The Raid: Redemption. It’s just not a
particularly interesting premise, and means the action is largely confined
within the Peach Trees complex. This is a way of working around the limited $45
million budget, we suppose, but ends up becoming quite formulaic. There are
also issues with the pacing, and the film drags itself out considerably,
leading up to what can be considered a lackluster climax. Most of the film
consists of Dredd taking on or running away from scores of thugs, which can get
a little bland after a while. There is a fantastic action sequence set in a
drug lab which pits Dredd against three corrupt fellow Judges, and this
reviewer would have loved to see more scenes of this nature that allow Dredd to
truly show off how much of a badass he is. The 3D is halfway-decent, but
results in an already dimly-lit film looking even darker because of the
polarization.
Dredd
lays the groundwork for what has the potential to be a truly incredible,
refreshingly visceral comic book movie franchise. It pulls no punches with its
hard violence that’s sure to get some squirming in their seats, and seems to
have nary a sense of Hollywood mega-studio artificiality to it. It’s just that
the story of this film probably isn’t the best that could have taken place in
the environment, and hopefully a sequel comes along that will progress the grim
world of Mega-City One even further.
SUMMARY: Dredd serves up Urban justice on a
plate, and in terms of style and tone is exactly what 2000 AD fans will
wholeheartedly enjoy. However, this is clearly just to lay the Mega-City’s
foundations, and hopefully will be followed up with more compelling and exciting
entries to come.
RATING:
3.5 out of 5 STARS
Jedd
Jong
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