Directed by:
Pete TravisScreenplay:
Alex GarlandCinematography:
Anthony Dod MantleComposer:
Paul Leonard-MorganCast:
Karl Urban, Lena Headey, Olivia Thirlby, Langley Kirkwood, Warrick Grier, Jason Cope, Domhnall Gleeson, Wood Harris, Scott Sparrow, Deobia Oparei, Karl Thaning (more)VOD (4)
Plots(1)
The future America is an irradiated wasteland. On its East Coast lies Mega City One - a vast violent metropolis where criminals rule the chaotic streets. The only force of order lies with the urban cops called "Judges" who possess the combined powers of judge jury and instant executioner. The ultimate Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) is tasked with ridding the city of its latest scourge -a dangerous drug and the sadistic prostitute turned drug pusher who is using it to take over the city. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (13)
It’s basically a sequel of The Raid, an action flick without a solid story skeleton, but in this case, unfortunately, also without amazing fight choreography, without atmosphere and without a likeable protagonist. Karl Urban has had many better roles in his career, and Pete Travis certainly has the chops for more than just a mindless shooter that shows emotions as much as Dredd smiles. The three stars are for the great premise and setting, for the properly bloody action and for the fact that I wasn't bored for even a moment during those 90 minutes. But I don’t need to watch it again. 65%
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From start to finish, a sough-after bit of nonsense that unwittingly joins hands with its inept predecessor from the 90s. It is all the more amusing that it strives so hard not to be such an unnecessary addition. And yet Karl Urban goes unused, the attractive Olivia Thirlby has a thankless role as a talented rookie, Lena Headey as the main attraction never steps out of the box of the anonymous antagonist, and the brutal action becomes boring after the third shootout. I don't understand what happened to Alex Garland's creative talent, which he obviously possesses in spades. Most of the time Dredd only hints at its world, showcasing only a few fragments and instead giving far more space to blatantly inaccessible scenes, and slow-motion shots that are, forgive me, plain stupid (without which this movie would have lasted no more than a weak hour).
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It cannot in any case be denied that the new Dredd movie is a knock-off of the Indonesian film The Raid, but the plagiaristic practices at its core at least appropriately recall the fact that this is pure-blooded B-movie trash. British film production is not trying to jump on the current Hollywood cash cow of comic-book movies as the equivalent of action blockbusters for the new millennium. On the contrary, it is quite blatantly staying at the level of trash that’s inaccessible to young people. However, that doesn’t mean that the filmmakers have given up on having any kind of ambition. Dredd is actually captivating with the inventiveness with which it embellishes the straightforward story and the purely artificial and, in many cases, entirely unjustified attraction of 3D. These days, stereoscopic projections are nothing more than an excuse to entice audiences into cinemas and pull a little more money out of their pockets than usual, but only a few such films contain at least slightly memorable sequences that somehow employ the illusion of three-dimensionality. Dredd offers up the entirely trivial attraction of slow-motion money shots, which it simply but all the more effectively and cleverly justifies in the narrative with a parallel storyline involving a drug aptly called Slo-Mo. As a result, however, the film is most surprising in that Dredd himself comes off as a bundle of sympathetically amusing clichés and would-be tough-guy lines unconvincingly delivered with appropriate woodenness by Karl Urban, who has zero charisma or personality. On the other hand, that enables the two main female character, portrayed by the perfectly type cast Olivia Thirlby and Lena Headey, to stand out all the more in comparison with him. Thanks to that, Dredd is not just another eighties macho throwback or a Marvel-esque would-be dramatic blockbuster faking depth, but a dynamic trash flick with enticing female characters.
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Formally stylized, it is a bold and confident B-movie, well acted, straightforward enough, with a simple plot outline. Conquering the floors of a mega-building like in The Raid, only in the American way, is a rewarding variation in the action genre. And just when you think it's over, a reference to Blade Runner subtly winks at you.
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Surprisingly good, but only on the second attempt. The first time I saw Dredd, I couldn't shake the impression for a good half of the film that Karl Urban was wearing a helmet a size too big and that most of what he says sounds wannabe tough/awkward. The second time around, however, all that disappeared and I noticed mainly the film's momentum, how thoughtful and blackly funny it is, how well Dredd and his partner fit together, how perfect Lena Headey is as the villain, and how all the bloody scenes have their reasons and none of them are there just for decoration... A lot of moments will probably become legendary (Dredd coming in, throwing the henchman off the catwalk, and leaving again) and if it's true that there won't be a sequel, then that’s a real shame. The next time I see the film (and it is certain that I will see it), I may very well add a fifth star.
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Photo © Lionsgate
![Dredd - Photos](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/157/802/157802297_8df7f5.jpg)
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