Review of Dredd (2012) by Kieran F — 30 Jan 2014

When I first heard they where remaking this film I was at first like "WTF??" mainly cause I remembered how bad the first one was and really couldn't see how this could get better. Then I saw the trailer and was pretty impressed,impressed enough to be able to say maybe this will work, so I waited it out and SURPRISINGLY the more I saw the more excited I got. Now when I FINALLY saw the film I went in with..I wouldn't say HIGH expectation but I was def. excited. I was NOT DISAPPOINTED. Unlike the original where it wasn't able to decide what it wanted to be or anything. This one was able to find a nice combination of the satire and action. It's almost like a...evolved Robocop 1. it has enough cool over the top action in it for action fans but also has funny and good humour it that makes the film enjoyable.

First and for most the thing this film gets right is it's combination of action and..deadpan humour. It's so great to see these over the top action sequences and then have him say a oneliner like it was nothing special haha Unlike the first wear it tried SOOOO HARD to do that but unfortunately went over board with it that it was ridiculous this one does it senselessly and knows what it wants to be so it doesn't try to be anything else then a..action black humour film. Along with some HIGHLY Enjoyable gun fights the dead pan humour is great. The gun fights are quite honestly some of my all time favourite scenes in the film.

Combined with the slow motion "Drug Effects" they're some of the most enjoyable scenes I've seen in a film since The Matrix and actually if anyone plays video games on here they oddly reminded me of Max Payne.

The films story is this interesting story about Judge Dredd(AKA Dredd) being Judge Jurry and executioner in a city that is infested with corruption and drug problems(Mainly a drug named "Slo-Mo" which when the user takes makes everything around them move in slow motion,Which lead to some of the coolest effects in the film) But the city is also filled with corruption and as the film goes on it presents us with a GREAT twist to all of this.

But none of this matters if the actor of Dredd isn't good and THANKFULLY he is 10x better than Sylvester Stallone. Watching Karl Urban I couldn't help but say to myself "Christian Bale's Batman mushed with Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry?" His voice was alot like it Raspy and almost scary just like him it was a great thing to see.

The highlight of most, if not all, action films are well..the action scenes and this film doesn't disappoint. The gun battles in this film are AWESOME combined with the great slo-mo drug effects kicking in from time to time the film is like watching a dark version of the Matrix I loved it and was highly satisfied leaving the theatre.

SADLY not everything in the film is perfect. although there is TONS of great stuff along with great dead pan humour the film has one flaw to it.. Character Morals. there isn't any. Now I'm not saying with this that I think the characters should have morals or feel bad about what they do etc. but I will admit the film just dispenses death so coldly that when bad things happen to Dredd in the film you're like "So what? not like he didn't deserve it" which I felt was wrong. It makes for it really hard to accept the character and thusly you just look at him as this one dimensional guy. I PERSONALLY had nothing wrong with this but I can see how it will cause problems with other fans.

In closing: The film is true to the comics and it's source material and a true adaptation that is easily able to overshadow it's predecessor and make you realize what Remakes are capable of,Even if it has no Morals,.