Dredd is a 2012 science fiction action movie written by Alex Garland and directed by Pete Travis, although star Karl Urban has revealed in an interview that the movie was also directed by Garland. Below is my Dredd (2012) movie review
The movie deals with an authoritative police force who have power to be judge, jury, and executioner. Judge Dredd (played by Karl Urban) and his partner trainee Anderson (played by Olivia Thirlby) team up to take down a criminal organization that deals with a drug called SLO-MO.
Some of the things that people didn’t like about the original movie (Judge Dredd (1995)) is that Dredd (Sylvester Stallone) takes off his helmet almost as soon as he is introduced (got to show off Stallone’s face to sell those tickets) as well as the movie feeling like another generic action movie. It felt like another action movie with fans thinking that Stallone could not pull off a tough, no nonsense taking judge. The producers of the 2012 movie wanted to see if they could go around this and present Dredd as he is usually represented in the comics. They also had to find a good story to tell without going over budget as many stories in the comics continue for multiple editions as well as show stories that could be hard to pull off with a budget of $45 mill USD.
The producers wanted to show a simple life in a day story for Dredd. For one thing, Dredd never shows his face, which is one of the most complained aspects of the original. The Judges in 2012 also have a better armor and can move more freely. The city itself is grim and crowded showing a post-apocalyptic feel of violence and crime. It is a violent world and the director experimented with blood bags, prosthetics, and shooting real bullets to see how it can be interpreted into the movie during the slo-mo scenes. One of better scenes deals with a slo-mo shootout with bullets passing through cheeks and the stomach of the criminals.
The movie is very gory and action packed. When the judges enter Ma-Ma’s territory (played by Lena Headley from Game of Thrones), everything goes south. Many people are killed in graphic detail as the judges do through each level of Ma-Ma’s hideout. The atmosphere is quite desolate and depressing. It shows judges in a territory where they are constant targets. Movie gets very intense as everybody starts attacking them on Ma-Ma’s orders. It was exactly what fans wanted. Dredd is a tough and gritty character who thinks well on his feet, not allowing anything to intimidate him. Urban captured the character well by being tough, focused and resourceful. He is cornered multiple times and has to find a way out, despite a lack of resources or backups.
The story is not over the top and it’s not one of the grander ones from the comics. However, it still works. Dredd was presented in the right way. The movie goes to show that if you are faithful to the original material, fans to support your movie. Fans are hoping a sequel gets greenlit but it doesn’t seem like that will happen. Even Urban is completely on board for a sequel.
Thanks for reading my Dredd (2012) movie review
