Oh dear, it appears that ‘Dredd’ (Karl Urban's reboot of the
cult favourite comic book adaptation from ‘2000AD’) has apparently not done as
well as expected (financially), with people even describing it as `bombing' at
the box office. That's a pity really, as
it's actually pretty good.
Perhaps it was destined for failure? It's an 18 certificate, due to the amount of
blood flying across the screen and drug usage.
Plus the comic that it’s based on is not that well-known in the US (‘Dredd's’
primary marketplace) and some criticized it for `ripping off' another film
called `The Raid' (which it didn't, as the scripts were written at the same
time), while others are still just reeling from Stallone's interpretation of
the character in the mid nineties.
For a start it's not overly long (staying a trim ninety
minutes) and it's pretty condensed. In
the far future much of the Earth is unable to be inhabited and the population
resides in various ‘Megacities.’ Judge Dredd is ‘Megacity One's’ top law
enforcer and takes a rookie to a giant tower block in search of a killer. However, once inside they're trapped in there
and must fight to stay alive. It's a
pretty straight forward plot and there's no shortage of cool shootouts. Karl Urban plays the part of a pretty
one-dimensional `Judge' as good as anyone and Lena Hedley is pretty menacing as
the drugs kingpin and shows she can play more than just one evil female villain.
The special effects are – mainly – practical and the
computer usage isn’t that heavy. Or,
rather when I say ‘heavy’ I should say ‘noticable.’ Some of the excess blood
looks a little ‘over the top,’ but the slow motion scenes are nicely done and
are used to emphasis the effects of the futuristic street drug ‘slow mo’ on its
users.
Perhaps ‘Dredd's’ biggest failing is that it probably won't
appeal to everyone. I'm guessing men,
aged twenty and over, will probably be its target audience. It's hardly a family film and I'm guessing
not many women will want to sit down for a romantic evening of watching
people's brains being splattered across the screen (however, if I'm wrong about
that - ladies, feel free to correct me and give me a call!).
There aren’t any big robots with red eyes in this
incarnation, but there are psychics who use their powers to read people (or
rather bad guys’) minds, so that’s always a bonus when the budget wasn’t there
to include every aspect from the comic book.
If you can put Stallone's face out of your mind (the face that many say
ruined the original version for being shown too much) and are looking for an
enjoyable action/sci-fi romp, you may just get something out of this.
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