Movie Review: Dredd (2012)

With another recent reboot that I was looking forward to seeing (Total Recall - and I enjoyed that too), along comes Dredd by director Pete Travis, written by Alex Garland and starring Karl Urban as Judge Dredd and Olivia Thirlby as new Psi recruit Judge Anderson, the two Judges called out to investigate a crime at 'Peach Trees', one of the 200 story vertical slum neighbourhoods, which just happens to be controlled by prostitute turned drug lord Ma-Ma (Lena Headey) and her ruthless clan. When Dredd and Anderson capture one of the clan’s inner circle for interrogation, Ma-Ma takes control of the entire block and wages a dirty, vicious war against the Judges that proves she will stop at nothing to protect her empire. With the body count climbing and no way out, Dredd and Anderson must confront the odds and engage in the relentless battle for their survival.

Dredd is a much more grittier, violent and darker film than the previous Sylvester Stallone Judge Dredd film, and more similar in tone to the original 2000AD comics. And that is a very good thing, as it needs to be. Director Pete Travis keeps the atmosphere and the pace of the film at the right tempo.

As an action film, it didn't really feel like a Sci-Fi film despite it's futuristic setting, it is very violent, hence the certificate given. But the violence isn't gratuitous and there for the sake of it. It's where it needs to be to carry the story. If anything, it felt like a video game, where you have to blast your way through each level to reach the final boss level at the top.

One of the main highlights was the way slow motion was used, to show the effects of the drug in the movie 'Slo-Mo', that gives users the perception of reality at 1% of real time. It wasn't overused, and worked well during the set pieces and the 3D. The end of the film with Ma-Ma in slow motion is some of the best cinematography I've seen, - broken glass, shattering in slow motion and in 3D glistening in the light, cutting to real time and back to slow motion again - beautifully shot!

I certainly enjoyed it, and if you enjoy shoot-'em-up video games, and enjoy a darker action (but not necessarily sci-fi) film, then I would recommend this to you!

**** out of 5