Dredd 3D (2012)

Dredd 3D (2012)

The year is 1995, and Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) has taken the role of a cop who gets convicted for a crime he never committed as Judge Dredd in one of the more disappointing comic to movie adaptions to ever exist. Jump forward 17 years and actor Karl Urban came to save the name with a Dredd reboot. With the creator of the Judge Dredd character on board, Dredd 3D was set to finally allow the comic book fans to watch their favorite anti-hero be the judge, jury, and executioner in a violent future that stayed true to the original Dredd storylines.

Refreshingly, with all the explosions, gore, action and brutality contained in the film, Dredd was not a Hollywood movie. In fact, it was directed by the British Pete Travis, and written and produced by the, also British, Alex Garland; which certainly stays true to the British 2000 AD comic strips. Garland began developing the script for Dredd in 2006, hoping to have no connection to the previous Judge Dredd film. The announcement of the film came in 2008, with principal filming beginning in November 2010. Dredd was released to the United Kingdom markets on September 7^th 2012, and released to the world on September 21^st 2012.

Dredd is a “Judge”, who in the 2000 AD world, is a policeman who happens to also be the judge, jury, and executioner of criminals in a futuristic post-nuclear-holocaust America. Judge Dredd is one of many judges who are responsible for keeping Mega-City One, a city with 800 million survivors, free of crime by ruthlessly ending any and all crime by whichever method he deems necessary. Dredd is assigned to investigate the Peach Trees which is a towering city-block where a new drug, Slo-Mo, is being produced. Dredd and his rookie, Judge Anderson, follow up their assignment when three people were murdered and tossed from a balcony somewhere from the higher floors. After arriving on the scene, the Peach Trees drug lord Ma-Ma locks down the complex and tell everyone that the Judges must die before they’re allowed out. From this point onwards, nonstop action and pure Judge Dredd action.

Those expecting a deep story will probably be disappointed, as Dredd aims to deliver an experience that is entirely encompassed within the single film while staying true to the grittiness of the character. There is no explanation as to how Dredd is built up, or why he is so well known amongst the criminals and other Judges, nor is it explained really any of the past or anything that happens past the movie. Thanks to the drug, Slo-Mo, that most of the story centers, the movie is able to deliver beautiful slow motion scenes that really give the film a slightly artistic feel to it during even the grittiest of action sequences.

The movie, naturally, has some references to the Judge Dredd film of 1995, however they are solely in place as references to the 2000 AD comic strips. Both films have the same runtime, which is somewhat interesting. With famous quotes such as “I am the Law!” used a lot more scarcely than in the Stallone version of the movie. Furthermore, Dredd uses a line directly taken from the RoboCop film of 1987, which fits his character accurately.

Those expecting a great action film with some great visuals and a self-contained plot are sure to enjoy Dredd 3D, and as someone who had never had any exposure past the Judge Dredd name, I enjoyed the film enough to read into the lore and watch the 1995 film: which probably could have been saved without losing on much.