Karl Urban is fast becoming a bit of a hero in Nerd-tastic circles. He came to prominence in one side of the Geeky Holy Trinity ‘Lord of the Rings’ (the other two pillars of the blessed trio being Doctor Who and Harry Potter), as the devastatingly handsome Eomer of Rohan. He capitalised on this popularity by taking on the role of Leonard McCoy, aka Bones, the devastatingly handsome Chief Medical Officer of the Enterprise in the 2009 reboot of ‘Star Trek’. Urban’s latest role is in ‘Dredd’ where he plays Judge Dredd a devastatingly… oh … erm… well, he plays Judge Dredd, a character from the comic ‘2000 AD’.
In the future, the east coast of North America is covered by Mega-City One, a vast, violent metropolis containing 800 million residents. The massive population has forced the legal system to adapt and employ Judges; autonomous individuals that dispense justice across the city.
‘Dredd’follows the titular Judge (Karl Urban) across a day in Mega-City One, where he is asked to evaluate rookie Judge Anderson (Olivia Thirlby). The pair get called to Peach Trees, a gargantuan tower block that is the home, school and workplace of thousands of citizens. The Judges discover that the block is being run by the ‘Ma-Ma Clan’ headed up by Ma-Ma (Lena Headey) who is producing the narcotic ‘Slo-Mo’, a drug that makes it seem like time is passing at 1% it’s usual speed. Judges Dredd and Anderson are pitted against the block and its gang inhabitants in an attempt to bring the guilty to justice.
Straight off the bat, I have no experience of Judge Dredd prior to seeing this film. I haven't seen the original film (although I’m reliably informed it’s dreadful…geddit? DREDDful?!?!), I haven't read any of the comics; all I was aware of was the bit that I read in Empire magazine and that he's some sort of Judge, Jury and Executioner all rolled into one. With that in mind, I really, really liked 'Dredd'.
I've read about the writing process Alex Garland undertook with 'Dredd' and I'm pleased with the direction he's taken. Initially he wanted to write about one of Dredd’s comic book enemies, Judge Death. As I said I’m not as clued up on the Dredd-Universe as I should be so I had no idea who Judge Death was, a bit of reading later and it was clear, even to a muggle like me, that this character would have been a nightmare to introduce, especially in the first episode of a proposed franchise. Garland has taken the best route possible and started the series with a ‘day in the life’ concept. This works really well. It’s engaging enough for people that are already aware of the Dredd stories (like the person I went to see the film with) and simple enough for the Dredd-Virgins (like me) to understand.
It plays like a platform videogame, I'm not sure whether this is in order to accommodate the Tower Block setting or as a result of it; either way it works really well. This has caused some to point the finger and shout about how it’s ripping off ‘The Raid’ but I don’t think that’s the case and besides, even if it was I think there’s enough room in this world for two action-packed, tower block centric films.
Lena Headey seems to be carving a career out for herself playing the evilest of evil bitches. Not only does she play the abhorrent Cersei Lannister in ‘Game of Thrones’ but in ‘Dredd’ she plays Ma-Ma. Ma-Ma is an ex-hooker turned Gang-Boss Drug Lord and is completely bat-shit crazy and scary as hell. Headey plays her like she does not give one solitary shit, not even about herself.
The bulk of the emotional character development is given over to Judge Anderson, the rookie Judge with psychic abilities. Olivia Thirlby is someone whose work I’m unfamiliar with but I think she did quite well in this. Anderson’s arc from nervous rookie to dispenser of Justice is good and I liked the scenes between her and Kay (Wood Harris), one of Ma-Ma’s head henchmen, where she gets information out of him in a way that only she can.
I don’t think I’ve ever said that a deadpan, emotionless performance was great but in ‘Dredd’ Karl Urban’s performance is just that. Dredd is a character with a completely black and white view of the world; you're either innocent or guilty, to him there is nothing in between. You may have read about what I'm calling 'Helmet-gate'. I'm reliably informed that in the comics Dredd never removes his helmet but in the 1995 adaptation of the eponymous Judge he does. Fans of the comic were in uproar about this massive oversight and thankfully this version does not make the same mistake. As I said I have no knowledge of the character other than what I’ve seen in this film but it does make sense to keep the helmet on him, it helps maintain the idea of him being a faceless representative of justice. He’s a proper BADASS!
It’s definitely an 18 certificate; there’s plenty of violence and scenes not for the faint-hearted. This hard-line approach works in the context Mega-City One and I never thought it was violence for violence sake. It sounds really simple when you write it down but I really think that’s on the of the film’s biggest strengths. ‘Dredd’ doesn’t seem to be a big hitter at the box office which has me baffled; I’d have expected this kind of thing to go down well with audiences. This may be due to the limited 2d release; I know I thought twice before relenting to the despotic chokehold of 3d. Needless to say I don’t think the extra dimension added anything to my cinematic experience.
As an exciting action film with a good cast and plenty of firepower, you can’t go far wrong with ‘Dredd’. Its simplicity works well and gives a good foundation for potential sequels that’ll give us more of an insight into the Dredd universe. I know there aren’t many 2d showings about but I’d still say this deserves to be seen on the big screen.
Reasons to be Cheerful :-)
1. Amy Adams has been talking about Man of Steel! It’s due out next year and Adams is playing Superman’s leading lady, Lois Lane :-) Obviously no one is giving a great deal away but the Trailer doesn’t look half bad so I’m being positive!
2. New Hobbit photos! I know there have been all sorts of news about ‘The Hobbit’ and the fact it’s being divided up into three films. I’m keeping an open mind and being optimistic :-)
That’s everything I’ve got for today!
Goodbye till next time :-)
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