Review of Judge Dredd (1995) by Tyler R — 18 Sep 2012

With the possibility of a decent remake coming out Friday, I might as well watch the movie it's based off of. Sylvester Stallone stars as Judge Dredd, a character who is basically the best in the line of "judges" who have replaced the police in a futuristic world.

The judges are also the jury and the executioner, but according to Stallone the judges are really just "THE LAW!" Most of the story is really just Dredd trying to clear his name after being falsely accused of a crime.

The plot is simple, but the concept of terminator-like judges replacing the police is actually pretty interesting. Unfortunately, the movie doesn't really execute. The movie is based off of a series comics from what I understand and I've heard a lot of people say that this movie is nothing like the source material.

To purists that would be their biggest complaint, but there's a lot wrong with the movie other than faithfulness to the comics. To start, the acting. Sylvester Stallone is normally a great actor when it comes to paying realistic characters who are likable, but once he's cast as an over-the-top character, you get an over-the-top performance.

Most of his lines are really just him saying "LAWWWRRRR!" (He's suppose to be saying law, but I hear lawwwrrr) Rob Schneider is also in it and I think he's the one that Jar Jar Binks would pass the mantle to if he was forgotten.

Schneider's character is really annoying and the only purpose he serves is to provide comic relief. His character is more or less dead weight. I also had a hard time being entertained by the action scenes in the movie.

The special effects look dated and there's a lack of tension. There wasn't a moment in the film where I felt like the characters were really in danger. Most of the action is too goofy to take seriously and I can't help but feel little kids would get more joy out of this than me.

When the movie all boils down to a really predictable climax, the end result is a movie that can only be described as over-the-top. There's a few other things than can be said about the movie, but I think that the reputation this movie has means that pointing out every single flaw would be pointless.

The plot isn't executed with any care, it's overacted, the action lacks in any fun or tension, the characters are ridiculous and it just fails at being entertaining. The only good thing about the movie was the set design, but the appeal doesn't last too long.

The movie does suck, so a remake is clearly justified.