Dredd

[BK007]

This was an awesome time at the movies, saw it as a double header with Taken 2, though I should have seen this second, because it was great but Taken 2 was a dampener.The action is pretty great though it is missing one massive sequence that is a token in movies like this, like some ballsy last stand menace thingamajig. Still, given the insane epicness that was the machine gun fire and its careless attitude in killing civilians by the bucketload, it didn't matter all too much.Urban doesn't need to do much but be menacing and pulls it off. The girl is average, not given that much to work with, but still, not entirely convincing. Has potential though. Visuals didn't need to be excellent considering the film and work fine.I think I might buy this down the road as it is pretty fun to watch, something sorely missing in many a blockbuster this year.

[Gopher]

Sadly a miss for me. I really wanted to like it. Even the action sequences weren't nearly as inspired or well-shot as those in The Raid (which basically does everything Dredd does but better).

I saw it with a big Dredd fan (I'm only familiar with the terrible Stallone movie) and we came to the conclusion that he doesn't make for a compelling movie action hero. He obeys the law because it's the right thing to do (I guess), otherwise... is there anything else to him besides decent puns? You can't even see his eyes. Karl Urban has to act with his mouth. Olivia Thrilby was a bright spot, but the most interesting thing they do with her is that great mind games scene with Ma-Ma's henchman.

It becomes fairly monotonous- it's 95 minutes and feels like over two hours- and it's played far too serious for such a silly concept. It's like they overcorrected the silly 1995 film. It's a humorless piece of ultraviolence with a fondness for CGI blood. If that's your thing, great... it wasn't mine.

Edited October 6, 2012 by Gopher

[BK007]

Oh, The Raid was awesome, its hand-to-hand combat/martial arts just shames any American film that tries to emulate "fighting".I think, that every year it gets harder to make a good action movie. You can't just push out a hack-job, well you can, but choreography/choreographers should be in high demand to deliver something new. Taken 2 was basically defining that.What I liked about Dredd was that it doesn't asked to be taken seriously, even though you alluded to it. After all, you never see his face, and there is no point to civilian death, which in such a callous manner, I mean, how can you take it seriously? It was never all high stakes nonsense. I don't know, maybe it's just personal preference. Refreshing to see actual no holds barred violence. More realistic than bad guys always miss everyone PG-13 recycled stuff.

[The Toymaker]

It becomes fairly monotonous- it's 95 minutes and feels like over two hours- and it's played far too serious for such a silly concept.

That's why the 1995 film is spot on, because it acknowledges the silliness and runs with it.

[Gopher]

There are story and character elements that are ludicrous (the Judge uniforms juxtaposed to civilian 2012-looking clothing was funny) but the tone is so serious that Dredd's one-liners don't even land. It creates a miserable world with miserable-looking people that I just wanted to get out of. Barney, even Stallone views Judge Dredd as a missed opportunity. But between the two movies I don't think there's a way to bring Dredd to the big screen right, nor will audiences ever care if they do.

[The Toymaker]

Barney, even Stallone views Judge Dredd as a missed opportunity. But between the two movies I don't think there's a way to bring Dredd to the big screen right, nor will audiences ever care if they do.

He does, that's right, but he thought Rhinestone was a good idea in 1983 (basically, we all make mistakes), but even his one had the correct tone, and that is really difficult to find sometimes. The reason his Dredd wasn't brilliant is because of the script and a few issues regarding the sequence of events, but the tone and atmosphere were fine, and the grandiose nature of Mega-City One also worked well in the '95 version. The '95 version needed a little more violence and blood, less gung-ho and more Hershey and Judge Anderson, and at the end there needed to be a hint of a sequel (like perhaps showing Judge Death lurking).

[BK007]

Apparently the 1995 one was deemed awful by everyone, not just critics, but I agree with the sentiment that Dredd isn't exactly a marketable character. I mean, you don't see his face, he pretty much has only one personality trait, there's no character development, no background, maybe there is in the comics but not in Dredd.However, seeing a badass judge killing criminals on the spot, well, I don't need any crap backstory shoehorned in. Like I've already said though, different strokes for different folks.

[The Toymaker]

Judge Dredd was not deemed awful by everyone. There's a following for it among certain Dredd and Stallone fans.

[Jay Beezy]

That's why the 1995 film is spot on, because it acknowledges the silliness and runs with it.

The campy delivery of dialogue doesn't fully suggest that. It's got a lot of unintentional humor.

[The Toymaker]

The dialogue, and the way it was delivered, was intentional. That's what Judge Dredd is meant to be like. Research it and see.

[Captain Craig]

Grade: A-

I know very little of Judge Dredd and I'm a comic book geek. I've just never fully gotten into him. The stories I've read have always involved a crossover. The Batman/Dredd ones are the ones that stand out. Despite doing some trimming in my monthly comic reading I may try the IDW Judge Dredd series hitting shelves in the coming weeks, due November.

I'm to understand that the original tone of the comic had a certain campiness to it and that's why the comic relief in the '95 Stallone version with Rob Schneider's character in tow as the sidekick was supposed to be accepted. I don't hate that film but I don't love it either.

So Karl Urban is doing this film in the starring role of Dredd and Lena Heady as the drug pushing lead foe has me curious. I was surprised that the RottenTomatoes meter had it at 76% and felt that the population who uses that meter as a guide would turn out to a respectable level---they didn't. Odd.

I saw this yesterday afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed the film. People like to pretend as if The Raid is the first movie ever to utilized the concept done again in this film. Maybe the first one for the whole film, I'll grant that, but the final third of Punisher War Zone is this same premise. People on movie sites forget that, quality of the film is irrelevant--it does the building siege premise for 1/3 of the film.

I was surprised by how much this film made you care about and empathize with Judge Anderson's character imo. Also, despite Urban being nearly fully covered under the mask he conveyed with his available facial tone and body posture his shift in attitude towards her.

One could say the movie is actually about Judge Anderson and Olivia Thirlby who I've never really noticed for her acting, in such films as No Strings Attached or Juno cause she was just the friend of the main lead, really shines in this role to my surprise.

As of my review, some 19 days after release the film has only managed to muster up $12.8m US domestic. It should've made that it's OW to be honest. It's WW total is $22.9m on a $50m budget. I predict this film will find a cult status on home video but it's too bad cause I think more films, in this world, with Urban and Thrilby as Dredd & Anderson would be great fun. Those involved said another film would've explored life outside the walls, in the Scorched Earth. I'd like to have seen that.

While you still can, GO--SEE-THIS MOVIE---NOW!!

I doubt DVD/BR sales will save this and allow for a sequel sadly.

[The Toymaker]

I feel that Dredd's box office fortunes really suffered from not having a star being billed as the titular character. Urban is basically unknown to the general population, and because the leads' face is 80% covered, a stars name is needed to fill that void. I know they wanted to keep costs down, but it would have helped with the revenue.

[mattmav45]

Good stuff.

It's nice to see a movie that's simply trying to kick ass and take names, and wears its heart on its sleeve. Sure, it's not perfect but I thought there was just enough back-story to become invested in the story and some really awesome scenes (the machine gun scene was pure madness). I certainly enjoyed myself, and Urban made a pretty effective Dredd.

Probably best action movie of year thus far for me.

B+/B

[Gopher]

It's nice to see a movie that's simply trying to kick ass and take names, and wears its heart on its sleeve.

I think that's why I'll give it a pass. It's more assured than most action movies, even if I didn't love what it was doing.

[Crusader]

Gopher you suck This was awesome The ONLY complaint I have is not enough action ( yes I said it ) slo mo death fall was awesome and machine gun quadrant destruction scene was insane Urban did an 80's action hero better than what the entire cast in Expendables 2 was trying to create using only his mouth ... you just had to get on board with the character that unlike boring ass superheroes and such didn't have a monotonous back story He's Robocop + Terminator + Dirty Harry deal with it 8/10

[rahvinn87]

Still can't really believe how utterly this failed at the box office. :(It also doesn't make much sense when you take into account that the critical and public reception has been AMAZING (just check RT user ratings and IMDB ratings if you want a statistical sample).Perhaps as Barney suggests it is due to not having a big enough lead as a draw? But I wouldn't have had anyone other than Karl Urban playing Dredd because I felt like he absolutely nailed the role...I get the feeling it's going to sell really well on blu-ray/DVD though (that's what normally happens with well received films that flop at the BO)

[lab276]

An incredible film. Well shot and choreographed and doesn't hold the viewer's hand as they watch. It truss the audience, and I appreciated it. And I loved the score, especially the slo-mo parts. A

Edited October 26, 2012 by lab276

[The Toymaker]

Dredd 3D

Well, well, well, I finally saw it. I enjoyed it too. As the type of Dredd film that we all expected the first time, it scores, but it also misses on a few things. The violence and depression were great, as was Karl Urban as Dredd. Some of the violence was just insane. Olivia Thirlby was fantastic as Judge Anderson. Not only was she sexy as fuck, but she totally kicked ass when she got a thirst for it after killing that black woman's partner. I wish they showed more of what that black perp was thinking when he was imagining her naked and sucking his cock. I wish..

The story was wafer thin, much worse than Judge Dredd. The story wasn't the same as The Raid, though, but I can see why the comparisons are made. The music, in parts, was great, usually in the "slow-mo" scenes. Setting it all in one building for a first movie in a possible franchise (little did they know it would bomb) was a weird thing to do. It narrows your options and doesn't really show off the best of any of the characters. I'm sure there were better stories in 2000AD than that, unless that was an original story, in which case there's your problem.

As the movie chugs along it does get good and apart from using bullets to kill each person, some ingenuity is involved because they start to run out of bullets. I think to make the film really good they should have had a proper villain, not some woman with a scar on her cheek. It was so cheap. They should have had Ma-Ma as being an older woman, or a totally different villain altogether, Rico or someone. One thing I didn't like was when Urban had a lot of dialogue to give in one go, his voice would lose that cool, husky lowness and instead just be Urban's normal voice. Cannot believe the director or Urban himself didn't notice that. It was like watching Batman/Bruce Wayne again with the changing voices. But thankfully it didn't happen often because Dredd is a man of few words.

Visually it was great, if a bit dark, but it gave me lots of opportunities at nostalgia. Many of the shots of Dredd reminded me of the comics that I used to read. This particular Dredd aims at a different style in the comics; an earlier Dredd. Stallone's Dredd portrays a more recent Dredd. That is the difference.

Stallone's Dredd: http://collider.com/wp-content/uploads/judge_dredd_wallpaper_01.jpg

Urban's Dredd: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v148/JackTChance/judgedredd_restrfiles1.jpg

See how what Urban's Dredd is based on is much more manouvreable, whereas Stallone's is heavy and has the big golden eagle on the shoulder. Just different Dredd's, and I can respect that totally. I love Stallone's Dredd, but I also like this one too. I suppose if I had to choose one, I'd go with this one because it was more mature and graphic, which is how the comics used to be, and that element to the comics is how it differentiated itself from other comics.

It was a shame that Urban didn't use any one liners (as comic Dredd does), but I can let that wash. Urban's "I am the law" line was better delivered (and at a more appropriate time) than Stallone's. Urban totally rocked the facial grimace of Dredd too, which was great, but then so did Stallone (without even needing to act).

Overall, it was a competent comic book movie that uses what the comic gives the character and to great effect. I would like to see a sequel to this one with more outside stuff going on (like how they teased us before and after the Peachtrees lock-in). Let's not kid ourselves, though, it's the violence and serious tone that sats this one apart.

B+

[Ozymandias]

Lol, Algren banned?

[Deep Wang]

Lol, Algren banned?

Jesus. He just posted that today. I was going to give him some credit.