TAC Reviews...Dredd

Date Posted: 07/12/14

Dredd film review, released in 2012 and starring Karl Urban and Lana Headley. It is based on the comic book of the same name and is a reboot of the franchise rather than a sequel to Judge Dredd which hit screens in 1995

You know I am actually quite a cheerful chap most of the time, I just get easily irritated but when something is worth talking about for good reasons I get excited and want to talk about it. Now if you are smart (like me), then you will know that a human's time on this earth is limited so why would you waste you precious moments on the likes of Twilight and 50 Shades of Crap when you can experience something truly brilliant, so for this edition I am going to talk about a film that I really enjoyed

The film opens with a voice over from Dredd in which he describes how the majority of the world became a desert known as the scorched earth, and the remaining population were concentrated into Mega Cities. Criminals run wild with thousands of crimes happening daily, the only force trying to maintain order are the Judges, elite crime fighters that act as judge, jury and executioners. The most infamous of these is Judge Dredd.

The film dives straight into the action in which Dredd is chasing down a group of criminals in a van, who are under the influence of a drug called Slow Mo, which basically slows a person’s brain function down to the point where time seems to moving past at 1% of its normal rate. The visuals used to demonstrate what those taking the drug seem to be experiencing are essentially what we would have come to expect from Matrix style bullet time effects, which was once a visual treat, slowing time down in films now has become so common that they have been used in countless films. So when Dredd had three of these time slowing drug effects in the first few minutes I was starting to slump down in my cinema seat wondering how many times we’d have to watch the same effect, but I need not have worried because Dredd was about to become awesome.

The gist of the story is a rookie named Anderson has been assigned to Dredd, she is a psychic, and chooses to investigate 3 murders in an immense tower block called Peach Trees. This sets into motion a chain of events that will see Dredd and Anderson taking on a brutal and sadistic gang and their leader who will stop at nothing to kill them both not caring who gets in their way.

It is during a raid on a drugs den on one of the block’s lower levels that Dredd offers its first truly astonishing visual sequence. A gang member inhales the Slow Mo just as the judges storm the room. What follows is a magnificently, stomach churning visual feast in which the judges’ bullets tear through bone, and flesh. The colours are bright and the explosions set the screen alive with fire. This was the moment that made me sit up in my cinema seat and let me know that I was in for a real treat, I have seen a lot of films that left me largely indifferent, and many more that filled me with a murderous rage knowing that was two hours of my time that I was never getting back, but every once in a while a film comes along that is truly incredible.

Karl Urban (who seems to be in most things these days) shows how good an actor he is because as Dredd never takes off his helmet he manages to act with just his chin, personally I have got no idea how that is even possible, seriously, try it, see if you can get through the next hour only using your mouth and chin to convey emotion…bet you cannot do it. The rest of the cast are on fine form with Lana Headley a particular joy to behold as the clearly insane, scarred and driven leader simply called Ma-Ma.

Admittedly it is hard to write funny stuff about something you really liked, so for next edition I will probably go back to spitting hatred at some popular drivel, but for this review I wanted to let you know that I do occasionally like things and in the case of Dredd I urge you to rent it, buy it, download it illegally – do whatever you have to in order to see this film.

This is a brilliant film, one of the best I have ever seen so I give a definate Thumbs Up

9/10 – A damned nearly flawless film – watch it immediately because if you don't then obviously you have no interest in decent films and might as well just go back to watching shit like Twilight