Russ Sheath here as Dredd, the big screen interpretation of the classic 2000 AD character Judge Dredd hits UK screens this week and in the US on September 21st.
I saw the movie last week and here's what I thought.
The first thing you have to get through your head is that this movie has no connection to the Sylvester Stallone movie from 1995. I really didn’t want to mention the Stallone interpretation in this review as it seems to come up in every interview that the film makers have taken part in since Dredd was announced, but, to a degree the media will always compare the new to what has gone before.
I am sure Tim Burton and Michael Keaton had to field endless questions about Adam West back in 1989, but the comparisons end there. The 1995 Judge Dredd movie had no where near the cultural impact of the Batman TV show and its taken several incarnations of the caped crusader for the media to finally put that to rest, even though it may take a millennia for the mainstream media to stop using 'Zap' and 'Kapow' in any super hero related reporting.
You don't see anyone asking Christian Bale how Adam West influenced his performance of Batman!
So, Dredd may have a sequel or two to get through before the media stop mentioning the the Stallone movie, but lets make one thing clear, Dredd puts 'that' movie to rest, hammers the nails into the coffin and buries it 6 feet under.
This ISNT the Dredd that has gone before and for 99 % of AICN and 2000 AD readers, thats a good thing, right?
So, first impressions....
Urban owns Dredd!
Utterly making the character his own, Karl Urban embodies the role and its 35 year history.
Essentially Dredd hasn’t changed that much in the comic over that time and Urban embraces the characters origins as a 'futuristic Dirty Harry' right down to the voice, which given the characters influences, could only be, in every readers head, Clint Eastwood's growl, cited as a 'saw cutting through bone'. Of course, where Dirty Harry was happy to step outside of the law to achieve his aims, Judge Dredd IS the law.
Dredd, although an experienced and senior Street Judge, doesn't have the same renown as he does in the comics, where, throughout the Mega City his name is feared and revered in equal amounts. The feeling you get from Dredd is that within the justice system he is a figure of renown but outside, on the streets, Dredd is another faceless embodiment of justice. That approach suits this film, makes the character more believable and embeds the extremes of living in Mega City One, a place where you don't need to be revered or a legendary figure to be at the sharp end of a desperate populace.
Mega City One is a vast urban expanse with a population of 400 million all living in a city that stretches the eastern coast of the United States. Ravaged by nuclear war, the survivors live in the Mega City, divided into sectors and inhabiting blocks or mega blocks, 200 stories high.
The first thing that you notice is that Mega City One is a much more grounded and real environment than that of the comic or indeed the 1995 movie. This sets a scene that is less fantastical and allows the viewer a greater buy-in to the world of Dredd, a world that is not too distant from our own.
The vehicles, fashions and technology are recognizable or an advance on the world we know and as Karl Urban said in his upcoming interview with AICN, this take on Mega City is more futuristic than the science fiction world of previous incarnations. that being said, all we have seen of Mega City One is a single ‘sector’ and the world that we know from the comics may yet exist in future instalments.
Whether a budgetary concern, which, given the modest 40 million budget for this film is likely, or a storytelling choice, being able to relate to the world that Dredd inhabits is essential and also lets you focus on the main concern of the movie, the characters and It's testament to writer Alex Garland that this movie works.
Garland embraces the movies budget and makes it work for him and the story, focusing on character and what has been described as a 'day in the life of a Judge'. You really do get a sense of this being all in a days work as the world outside plays little part in the main action of the movie. This focus on the characters of Dredd and Anderson allow us to get to know them, to root for them and can only lay the foundations for a more expansive future instalment.
If you know Dredd then you know that the world he inhabits is policed by the Judges, the police force with ultimate responsibility for bringing justice to the streets of Mega City One. In Dredd we are introduced to the Judges as Dredddispenses justice, illustrating not only the powers of the Judge, those of judge, jury and executioner but also the world the judges inhabit.
We see a world that is downtrodden and where there doesn't seem to be a lot of hope, just existence. In this movie we don't see any extremes of wealth or poverty, just poverty and a society surviving and existing. Alex Garland offers a world that justifies the extremes required of those who uphold the law, it draws the viewer in and makes the world Dredd inhabits all the more believable.
Visually the world of Dredd draws comparisons to the 2009 movie, District 9, looking through that same lens at a hot, uncomfortable world where people simply exist, the film never looks cheap, just dirty and gritty.
As Dredd returns to the Hall of Justice, the towering headquarters that symbolically towers over the Mega City, we meet Olivia Thirlby as Rookie Judge Anderson, a recruit who has failed to meet the requirements to become a judge and who seems destined to wash out but for one distinct aspect, she is telepathic.
Not telepathic on an 'X-Men' scale, even though she is referred to as a mutant, but with an ability to read a subjects intent as well as to place suggestion in their minds, a skill set that makes her valuable enough to the Judicial system that they assign Anderson to Dredd for evaluation, for one last chance to make the grade.
Thirlby is fantastic as Judge Cassandra Anderson who in her own way has as much weight on her shoulders as Urban being the most significant supporting character from the comics and effectively the eyes through which we view life in Mega City One. In the comics Anderson was the humanistic, less dogmatic voice of reason and here, in Dredd, Thirlby's Anderson provides questions and doubt in contrast to Dredd black and white world.
With the majority of the movie on their shoulders the chemistry between Urban and Thirlby is apparent and essential with the relationship between the two working incredibly well.
Anderson is less 'quippy' and challenging of her counterpart than her comics version, fitting given her rookie status in the movie and even though a judge, is our closest embodiment of a 'normal person' living in Mega City One. There is a world weariness to her as she expects this last opportunity to prove herself to be a futile effort when paired with the embodiment of justice.
Dredd and Anderson respond to a homicide at 'Peach Trees' a 200 story megablock and home home to 60 000 people essentially living in a monolithic slum. Ruling Peach Trees is Ma-Ma, crime boss, gang leader and peddler of slo-mo, a drug that slows perception to a fraction of its reality and that is gripping Mega City One.
It's here that the 3D aspect of the movie comes into play. Call me a sceptic but the box office bolstering ability of 3D, for most movies, doesn't justify subjecting the movie to the process, the only movie that justifiably has used 3D to its fullest, eye melting glory being Transformers: Dark of The Moon.
Dredd adds to that notably short list of movies where the 3D plays a role in the story telling process. Michael Bay put the viewer in amongst the skydiving 'Bayhem' in TF 3 and in Dredd viewers experience the effects of slo-mo first hand in a hypnotic, heightened reality. Similarly, the 3D in Dredd transports the viewer into the mind of the telepathic Anderson, the 3D very much enhancing the viewing experience and putting the viewer inside Anderson's head.
We also meet Ma-Ma. Portrayed by Sarah Connor and Game of Thrones veteran Leana Heady in another fantastic casting choice and who gets to show another side of nastiness in comparison to the plotting, almost sympathetic Cersei Lannister. Here, as Ma-Ma, Heady gets to unleash the anger and angst that we only get glimpses of from the simmering, scheming Cersi. we really don't get to see enough of Heady which is really, the films only failing.
Trapped in the locked down megablock and with no outside communication, Dredd and Anderson's only choice is to battle their way through almost 200 levels of bad guys to to summit of the the block and Ma-Ma.
Grim determination propel Dredd and Anderson through Peach Tree's their lead suspect in tow and even in the most desperate moments Dredd intent on upholding and dispensing justice. it's a thin line between parody and accepting Dredd, but Urban pulls it off in spades being kept grounded by Thirlby's Anderson.
This is Dredd's movie and In turn Urban's movie, embracing Alex Garland's spartan script without movie star prevention and even encouraging Garland to thin out Dredd's dialogue.
As fans of Dredd and readers of the lawman's adventures in 2000 AD the lead actor and writer bought a passion and intent to see this movie done right, and they have, for all intents and purposes fulfilled that dream and that of thousands of 2000 AD fans.
