In 1995, one of the great cinematic abominations of the decade descended on us in the form of Judge Dredd, starring Sylvester Stallone. On paper, the film had some good stuff going for it. Stallone looks a lot like the Dredd from the comic books, and the cast also included Diane Lane, Armande Assante, Max von Sydow, Diane Lane, and most importantly, Diane Lane (can you tell I am a fan?). Unfortunately, Judge Dredd is utterly unwatchable (except for any scene with Diane Lane). The film took a critical beating and was a well-deserved flop.
But the comic is a cult favorite, and the character of Judge Dredd, a no-nonsense, brutal law enforcement officer in the future, licensed to be judge, jury, and executioner for even the smallest infractions, lends itself to the big screen. It was only a matter of time before Hollywood tried again. I'm only surprised it took this long.
In the not too distant future, most of the East Coast has now become one super city called Mega City. With overcrowding and a scarcity of resources, the world is on the verge of falling apart. To keep order, the police have adopted tougher tactics, including the creation of the Judges, among whom Dredd (Karl Urban, Lord of the Rings) is arguably the best and easily the meanest. Dredd generally works alone, but on this day, he is saddled with a rookie, Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby, The Darkest Hour). Anderson isn't doing so great in the Judge Academy, but she has rare, psychic gifts, and the Chief Judge wants to see how she does in the field before giving up on her. And she wants Dredd to take her out. The pair respond to a routine call, only to find themselves trapped in a skyscraper under the thumb of Mama (Lena Headey, 300), a vicious drug lord who is pushing the hottest drug on the street, called Slo Mo. And so the stage is set. Literally stuck in a building with hundreds of gang members, will the Judges survive? Will Anderson be able to rise to the occasion and find her inner Judge badass? Will Dredd be able to erase the painful memory that 1995's Judge Dredd had scarred into my brain?
Look, I'm not going to lie. Dredd is not a masterpiece of cinema. There are a lot of problems with it, including a very bland opening act, some goofy story points, some bad one-liners, and questionable acting in a few places. And while the effect of the drug Slo Mo, which renders the world literally in slow motion - only with heavy filters and glitter - is kind of neat the first time you see it, it definitely overstays its welcome by the 400th time you've seen it. Its overuse just bogs the movie down.
But let's not kid ourselves. We aren't expecting Dredd to be a masterpiece. But was it fun? Was it violent in the way action fans would want? And does it do justice to the original character? The answers are yes, yes, and yes. Urban makes an admirable Judge Dredd, and wisely erases any 3-dimensionality or humanity from the character. There does not need to be any character arc for Dredd, and Urban and director Pete Travis understand that. Dredd just needs to kill people. But the film is not devoid of character development, and I found Anderson's transformation to be particularly well handled.
The movie's action is appropriately gruesome and fun, and only goes over the top once or twice. But what I like most about Dredd is how unambitious it is. I am so tired of every single action movie having the fate of the world, and maybe even the universe, at stake! Every single big Hollywood blockbuster has to be sweeping and end with some city getting destroyed in an irresponsible and ridiculous special effects bonanza. And I am tired of it. You know what happens in Dredd? The main character goes in a building and there's a gunfight, and then the movie ends. That's it. And we don't need anything else! Hurray for Dredd! You get a standing ovation for that alone.
So there you go. Is Dredd great? Definitely not. But it gets more right than it gets wrong, and I was definitely entertained. Of course, as if you didn't already guess, the biggest problem with the movie is that Diane Lane isn't in it.
MVP:
Often with these types of movies, the rookies will just turn into a badass so quickly, it is as if a light switch was flipped on to make them fight better. It's annoying, but something most of us accept in genre flicks. This is not the case with Olivia Thirlby's Anderson, who actually undergoes a realistic transition from a rookie in over her head to a warrior who can hold her own without Dredd backing her up. The character arc is well-balanced and proceeds in a steady pace alongside the main storyline. Part of the credit has to go writer Alex Garland (28 Days Later). But Thirlby also puts in a very good performance, taking the meek and nervous girl from the beginning of the film and believably transforming her into a powerful young woman who can threaten thugs twice her size by the end of the film without the audience laughing at her. Though the character arc is broad, the details of the performance are subtle, and I was very impressed. Olivia Thirbly, you get my MVP!
BEST LINE:
Anderson (reading a gang member's mind): Sir, he's thinking about going for your gun.
Dredd: Yeah.
Anderson (reading his mind again): He just changed his mind.
Dredd: Yeah.
TRIVIA:
Michael Biehn (The Terminator) auditioned to play Judge Dredd. While I think he would have been too old to play the part, I love Michael Biehn. After awesome work in The Terminator, Aliens, and The Abyss, I will never understand why he never broke through and became a star. He's awesome!
