Judge Joseph Dredd is a comic book character whose rich history dates back to 1977. He’s pop culture canon overseas and even ranked #35 on IGN’s comic book heroes list.
But when the comic character’s 2012 film adaptation, Dredd, came out, I looked the other way.
No marketing alive could stamp out the bad memories of 1995’s Sylvester-Stallone-powered version, Judge Dredd.
You know the one.
It’s the flop with Stallone (Dredd) and Armand Assante’s (brother Rico) classy discourse on betraying the law.
And there’s the dubious casting of Rob Schneider (not him!) as Dredd’s obnoxious comic relief sidekick, steering a dystopian satire of power and police states into an odd-couple-style buddy-cop movie from hell.
This reboot, Dredd, was also a commercial disappointment, hitting $41.5 million at the box office against a $30-$45 million budget.
But over time word leaked out, from those that saw it, that this adaptation was worth the time.
Still, for more than a decade, I remained skeptical.
But when I learned the film’s screenplay was written by Alex Garland (Ex Machina, 28 Days Later), I decided to put the Dredded baggage behind me and give this dreaded refresh a fair shake.
So is Dredd a good movie?
Note: I had to stream the non-3D version. So this review can’t speak to those effects.
The Plot of Dredd:
In the near future, a nuclear war reduces the United States to a wasteland. Its survivors cram into concrete jungles called Mega Cities.
Judges, street police given the power of judge, jury, and executioner, are the only government. And they’re losing the battle to keep order.
Judge Joseph Dredd (Karl Urban) patrols the East Coast’s Mega-City One, a population of 400 million.
When the Chief Judge (Rakie Ayola) asks Dredd to take new recruit Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) with him on patrol and evaluate her fitness for duty, he accepts.
Dredd and Anderson respond to a triple homicide in a block tower called Peach Trees. They arrest Kay (Wood Harris) for the murders and prepare to take him back to base for questioning.
Hearing of Kay’s capture and afraid he will reveal the secrets of her drug empire, the building’s criminal overlord, Ma-Ma (Lena Headey), locks down the whole place and orders the judges to be killed. She threatens pain and suffering on anyone who tries to help.
With no escape and no backup, Dredd and Anderson fight for their lives against Ma-Ma and the building’s criminal tenants.
The Rest of the Main Cast Includes:
- Domhnall Gleeson as computer hacker
- Warrick Grier as Caleb
- DeObia Oparei as TJ
- Francis Chouler as Judge Guthrie
- Daniel Hadebe as Judge Volt
- Langley Kirkwood as Judge Lex
- Edwin Perry as Judge Alvarez
- Karl Thaning as Judge Chan
- Michele Levin as Judge Kaplan
- Junior Singo as Amos
- Luke Tyler, as Freel
- Jason Cope as Zwirner
- Joe Vaz as Big Joe
- Scott Sparrow as Japhet
- Nicole Bailey as Cathy, Japhet’s wife
Note: Though the movies are completely different, fans have pointed out that the setup of Dredd, police trapped in a building, is curiously the same as The Raid (reviewed here).
The Good Things:
Karl Urban Does a Different Kind of Chin-Up, +4 Points
Playing Judge Dredd is challenging if you’re faithful to the source material.
In the comics, Dredd rarely takes his helmet off. And if he does, they obscure his face to the reader.
So due to the helmet, much of the actor’s performance will be in the chin and lip area.
Karl Urban overcomes these limits, crafting a Dredd like future Dirty Harry meets Robocop.
Boy, does he have the power chin. And he’s stoic behind his helmet, even in the face of danger or examining the remains of bloody carnage.
He walks tactfully and measured, with an unwavering gaze in conversation.
And his line delivery brings it all together. Speaking flat and breathily, he hints at a disgruntled officer who knows he’s only playing whack-a-mole with the city’s criminals (the Judges respond to 6% of Mega-city One’s crime).
The costume design also put some visible dents in Dredd’s helmet, which was a nice touch.
Don’t Cry to Ma-Ma, +4 Points
Ma-Ma sounds cuddly, but she’s far from it. She bit her former pimp’s penis off and regularly doles out punishments like ordering people skinned alive.
With that kind of brutality, you wonder if Dredd’s casting director put up flyers for the role of Ma-Ma on the set of Game of Thrones because she’s played by Lena Headey, who leaves her Cersei Lannister behind and portrays the fierce former prostitute turned gangster with intelligent choices.
Headey’s Ma-Ma is a monster. She’s equal parts disaffected and dangerous.
But there’s no Harley Quinn here. She’s a calculating gang general who doesn’t revel in her nasty business with histrionics. She intimidates with dead-eyed looks and gives orders to kill like she’s commenting on the weather.
In one standout scene, she holds a curved knife against the bare stomach of her computer hacker while he lies to a street Judge. She intimidates the hacker by dragging the blade lightly against his skin, from his belly button up his abdomen. She only stares, but the computer wizard and the audience know that, if the Judge doesn’t buy his story, she’ll plunge the knife straight in.
The giant scar on her face, blackened front teeth, and washed-out hair complete the drug-addled look as Ma-Ma gets high on her own product.
Fluid Pacing, +3 Points
Dredd doesn’t waste time. Every scene or dialogue advances the plot.
And character change happens on the fly. For example, Judge Anderson goes from a squeamish green recruit afraid of her first firefight to a badass psychic sidekick by the end, Dredd himself telling her, “You look ready” at the final shootout.
The smooth character changes help the movie avoid second act syndrome – where a movie starts with a bang but spends the whole second act just buying time and building characters up for the conclusion.
And it doesn’t overstay its welcome, with a tidy runtime of 1 hour, 35 minutes – a solid length for the film’s scope.
Dystopian Tone, +2 Points
Dredd gives us a frightening future where human life isn’t held in high regard, even by those trusted to protect it.
In the chase scene that opens the movie, the criminals run over an innocent bystander, but Dredd doesn’t stop. He notes the supposed death to his command center and continues his pursuit.
And after one of the goons shoots up the mall, we see a floor scrubber mopping up the blood and removing the victim’s bodies, a matter-of-fact announcement over the loudspeaker that the cafeteria will reopen soon.
It’s a world indifferent to suffering, a theme that makes a compelling backdrop for Dredd and Anderson’s character development.
The Not-As-Good Things:
Lack of Trademark Sequences, -2 Points
***Spoiler Alerts Here***
Raiders of the Lost Ark has the Peruvian temple raid that opens the film. Ronin has its famous car chase.
Dredd has…scenes of him tactically walking around corners?
I’m surprised the talented Alex Garland couldn’t write more signature moments in this film because we get some boilerplate scenes.
Take the opening chase. On his motorcycle, Dredd runs a car full of criminals off the road and kills the last man with a heat-seeking bullet, saving a hostage.
There’s nothing outright wrong with it, but it’s action you can drop into any cop movie ever. For example, it’s similar to the hostage rescue that opens Stallone’s Cobra.
The film attempts to spice things up occasionally. Ma-Ma unleashes her, literally speaking, big guns on an entire floor of the building and calls in help from some corrupt judges, pitting Dredd against a new enemy.
But are they “holy shit!” moments? Not so much.
What’s Dredd’s Superpower? – 2 Points
Dredd’s weapons are straight from the pages of the comics.
He’s got his Lawgiver, a pistol that fires different ammunition, including napalm (promising).
And he’s got gas and stun grenades (a little unimaginative for a sci-fi film but ok).
But that’s it (really?).
So his superpower is…shooting people ten feet away in the chest before they can shoot him back.
I can appreciate the attempt to stay faithful to the source material. I wouldn’t want Dredd busting out
Karate kicks either. But something novel was needed to raise Dredd’s fury up a notch.
More Ammo? – 1 Point
Early in the movie, Dredd cautions Anderson to conserve ammunition, and later he runs out of bullets, leading to trouble.
But Dredd and Anderson have shot down piles of bad guys, leaving quite a selection of firearms strewn about.
Unless I missed it, at no point does Dredd explain why, in a desperate situation, they can’t use the
rifles of the villains they just waxed.
Perhaps avoiding soiled weapons is a piece of judge code and Dredd lore I’m unaware of? As it stands, it’s baffling.
Dull Henchmen, -1 Point
None of Ma-Ma’s gang is unique. No standout lines. No inventive costumes. Just thugs here.
It’s a missed opportunity to add more flavor to the movie – the type of company Ma-Ma keeps or the strength of the opponent Dredd defeats.
Should I Watch Dredd?
Total Score: 7 Points
You can appreciate Dredd’s attempt to redeem the famous comic hero (or is it anti-hero?) on the big screen. Its pacing and premise are fun, and its actors rock their parts.
The film is well-paced, pulling off an enjoyable popcorn film with some punch. And some of the comic’s murky portrait of society and justice is intact.
The movie deserved a better take at the box office, as you wonder how much of its underperformance was down to negative associations with the failed efforts of Judge Dredd (1995).
So if you want to relax and have a strong stomach for a bloody action movie (there’s a bit of gore in this one), go for it.
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Disclaimer:
This review’s factual information was gathered through online sources, like Wikipedia, IMDB, or interviews. Misrepresentations and errors are possible but unintentional.
Making art is hard. This is a fan’s blog. Any criticisms are meant to be constructive.
