What’s sad about director Peter Travis and writer Alex Garland’s “Dredd” is that it’s the comic book movie of the character Judge Dredd, that fans probably deserve. And they may not get a sequel at all, since its release in 2012 did little to stir the franchise potential of it all. The ingredients are all here for “Dredd” to kick off a wonderful series. There are a people behind the movie who take the material seriously, there’s zero camp, star Karl Urban plays Judge Dredd as an anti-hero and not like a clown, there’s no comic relief, and Judge Dredd never once takes his helmet off during the movie. To compensate for his lack of face time, Urban scowls and emotes more zealously than his prior roles for Dredd, and it pays off without an inch of over the top dialogue delivery to be found.
Urban plays the role of Dredd with conviction and determination and makes him an enigmatic and clever hero you can root for, who likely would have been expanded on with future films. “Dredd” is a dark, gritty, and very bleak action science fiction film never opting for cheap laughs, even when the film sprays the audience with occasional splatter effects. When we’re introduced to Judge Dredd in the new film, he’s a swift and merciless law keeper who mows down a group of gun men and proceeds to execute a gun man who has a hostage at gun point.
“Dredd” makes up for not giving Urban face time by pairing him with a partner, a potential new Judge named Anderson. Though Anderson is a swift and young officer with potential, she simply has failed the test required to make you an official Judge worthy of stopping violent criminals at all corners of the apocalyptic Mega-City One. Her one advantage is that she is a psychic, and can read minds of her cohorts and help uncover secrets about cases that would require hours of interrogation. The authorities want her on the team, but they’re not sure if she can hack it as a Judge.
Dredd is assigned to take her on assignment and decide if she’s capable. Little do they know they’re about to enter in to The Ma-ma Clan’s territory. A high rise filled with a hundred floors an a slew of vicious criminals and gang members, Dredd and Anderson raid it to investigate three murders of rogue drug dealers, and capture one of Ma-Ma’s henchmen. When Ma-Ma discovers the infiltration, she locks down the entire high rise, and now Judge Dredd and Anderson must fight their way out.
Though very similar to “The Raid Redemption” in many regards, “Dredd” sports its own degree of entertainment, with Dredd playing a very down beat role as the hero who stomps through most corridors prepared to slaughter anyone who crosses him. Olivia Thirlby is very downbeat as the rookie Anderson, who uses her psychic abilities to get past obstacles and helps to keep Judge Dredd safe when events take a turn for the worse. Anderson balances Dredd’s anarchistic form of combat, and Dredd serves as an intriguing hero who will do whatever it takes to ensure the safety of he and his new partner. Director Travis paints “Dredd” with a great sense of urgency and style, giving the duo a real hard time of getting through this ordeal alive, and the film never slows down.
In the same regard, it never feels rushed or hard to keep up with, either. The caveat to “Dredd” is the maguffin of the “Slo-mo” drug everyone seems to be addicted to. While the effects played on screen seems interesting on paper, the constant images of action in slow motion can get very tedious, very easily. In either case, “Dredd” is a very entertaining and blood soaked action science fiction flick, and one I wish received oodles of attention upon its release. For fans who love bleak crime fare like “Robocop,” and “Cobra,” Peter Travis’ “Dredd” is an old fashioned crime thriller with splatter, good old fashioned post apocalyptic villains, and a respectable depiction of the alternative comic character known as Judge Dredd that fans can finally get behind.