The World Comes Crashing Down

Dredd

In 1995, Sylvester Stallone trust upon us on of the worst film of all time, Judge Dredd. The film was a jumbled mess of action, humor, and politics (yeah I was confused on this as well). I think that we could all agree that this film was one that we wish we could erase from our psyche. So when I heard they made a remake/reboot, I said, sarcastically, “yeah, why not?”

In the not too distant future, the world has become a barren wasteland except for one major city, Mega-City One. In Mega City, the law is being enforced by Judges who are authorized to carry out sentences of judgment on the spot. One infamous Judge is Dredd and he has just been partnered up with a psychic rookie by the name of Anderson. Entrusted to assess the rookie, but the test goes in a different direction when the two Judges are called to slum for a routine homicide.

Let me start by saying that this film is considerably better than its predecessor. I know that it isn’t saying much, but it’s true. On the other hand, it was mediocre at best. The action is decent and the acting isn’t terrible. Especially Lena Headey (300, Game of Thrones), she plays the main protagonist, Ma-Ma. She is a very disturbed and nasty woman drug-lord. Karl Urban dons the helmet of Dredd and he is making his presence felt as a pretty good action star with film like this and even RED.

 But this film was basically a rip-off of an amazing Indonesian film, The Raid: Redemption. The plot of that film is about a group of SWAT members that are trapped in a slum house run by organized crime. I tried very hard to segregate the two films, but the similarities were just too much.

Pete Travis (Vantage Point) does an okay job with the direction of the film. I think what he exceeded at was bringing the dystopian society to life. The original film was flashy and almost sparkly, but this film was what Judge Dredd is supposed to be, dirty and almost pathetic.

If you would like to watch a mindless action film, then this is a good choice. However, if you would like to see a better film with almost the same plot, then please check out The Raid: Redemption.

The Verdict: Check Out On Cable.