Hollywood definitely did not have psychic abilities back in 1995 when they first attempted to leverage off the success of one of Britain’s most iconic comic book characters, Judge Dredd. That version starred Sylvester Stallone…
I am the Law
I first encountered Judge Dredd in 1977 when the second edition of the science fiction comic “2000AD” arrived at my local bookshop. Dredd is a kind of future Dirty Harry whose job is maintain law and order in a chaotic cityscape called Mega City One. Its population of 800 million mostly live in massive 200 story tower blocks ruled by druglords. It’s a grim, violent and depressing environment, but rest assured its better than the radioactive wasteland that the rest of earth has become.
Of course justice has to be dispensed more expediently in the year 2099. Civilisation has wisely chosen to abandon the slow moving machinery of a judicial system and replaced it with a much more efficient approach. Law enforcement officers like Dredd are empowered to be judge, jury and executioner. You get the distinct impression that leniency would be considered a professional failing.
Karl Urban does a fine job of delivering the character of Dredd. He is consistently stern and shows no doubt or remorse. He stands, walks, rides and shoots like the comic hero does. It not an easy role to play, especially since all expression has to come from the lower half of the face because, as per the comic, Dredd’s helmet never comes off. Justice has no personal face.
Rookie Judge Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) is a bit more personable. Anderson is Dredd’s new sidekick who is in for a tough first day. Judge Anderson is actually a significant character from the comic series and is one of the first members of the “Psi Division of judges” with psychic abilities.
Hollywood definitely did not have psychic abilities back in 1995 when they first attempted to leverage off the success of one of Britain’s most iconic comic book characters. That version starred Sylvester Stallone in what has been described as one of the worst movies of that year. Too many of the key elements of the comic series were altered and the end result was more reminiscent of “Demolition Man” than the gritty, post apocalyptic world that the new Dredd inhabits. Fortunately – the 2012 version does a far better job of portraying the world of 2099 with just the right mix of familiarity and futurism to draw you in to the story; even the 3D effects are right up there with some of the best I’ve seen.
Fans of the comics will appreciate that so much of the style and detail have been carried through into this film version although some might be disappointed with the Judges’ motorcycles (a MkIII Lawmaster is supposed to be a truly bad-ass piece of machinery with massive tyres and oversized machine guns, laser cannons and exhaust pipes).
Be warned, fighting for order amongst the chaos is sometimes not a pretty sight. This movie has more than its fair share of gratuitous violence and graphic brutality but its hard to not feel its warranted – especially when the bad guys are so terribly bad. Many of the more gruesome deaths in the film are in slow motion that serves to show off some impressive special effects, but it’s not all just a gratuitous display, the prolific use of a drug that slows down time so the victims have more time to contemplate what is about to happen.
Dredd 3D is not like other comic book hero films; it’s important to avoid taking your kids/nieces/nephews. This is a film that sets out to deliver what Dredd fans would expect and to atone for the sins of the 1995 version and I’m pleased to say it delivers.
Rated R18 with release date of October 4th 2012.
By Mark Brighouse and Lane Hannah
25 September 2012
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