Who would have thought such a simple equation would work so beautifully: Judge Dredd – helmet + Rob Schneider = One truly awful movie. I’m of course referring to the god awful 1993 Dredd adaptation starring Sly Stallone and the infamous Mr. Schneider. Where that was a bloated catastrophe, the 2013 version that I will now review is lean, mean, and extremely brutal.
Dredd (the new movie) is based on the classic long-running British comic book 2000 AD which the character Judge Dredd comes from. An attempt was made in the 90s to bring him to the big screen, with disastrous consequences. So how does this new one correct the mistakes made by this? Well obviously keeping your film as far away as possible from Rob Schneider is a good start but what really makes Dredd work is it’s faithfulness to the source material. This is the hyper-violent, bad-ass, take no prisoners, Judge of the comics. He doesn’t smile, he doesn’t cry, and he never, ever takes his helmet off.
The movie also keeps the plot simple. The story is basically a day in the life of Dredd and this helps introduced the near future, crime ridden, setting with law enforcement carried out by a group known as Judges. They’re basically cops with the ability to judge and carry out sentencing on criminals. From this jumping off point we see Judge Dredd and new recruit Judge Anderson having to fight their way through a huge tower block run by the infamous Mama clan. What comes next is over an hour of tightly choreographed violent action with all the fat trimmed off. It isn’t bogged down with emotion, politics, back story, or any of the tropes of modern action films. It’s good guys vs bad guys, nothing more, nothing less and it’s a refreshing change from the conflicted action heroes we usually see. Dredd sees the world in black and white, good and bad. Good guys get a pass, bad guys get a bullet.
What makes the film great though is also confusingly what stops it being a classic. It’s extremely simplistic with nothing truly original to elevate it to greatness. The action isn’t as inventive as something like The Raid, and the blood effects when people are shot (this happens a lot!) are obviously çomputer generated. Maybe I’m old fashioned but I like my blood to come from food colouring dyed liquid in a condom (this is honestly how it’s done, it’s not some weird fetish I have).
Go watch Dredd now if you even have a passing interest in violent action movies. Hell, just watch it to get the taste of Stallone’s Judge Dredd out of your mouth. And tell your friends about it because right now it didn’t do enough business to warrant a sequel. I really want a sequel, let’s make it happen people!
Screenkicker! 
Good film. I liked it. If I’m honest I think you were harsh about Sly’s version, yeah it’s awful, but it’s a watchable awful film.
If it is on tv I’ll always watch it.
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Yeah but you’re a massive Armand Assante fan. Anytime I see the original I just wish I was watching Demolition Man
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Please review cliffhanger, there is a rumour it might be better than die hard? …..
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I might, but I think Under Seige is the best Die Hard like film
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I only watched this for the first time last weekend and I lurrrved it! Agree with you on Sly’s version. He spent half the film striking poses. FU Stallone. MOAR KURBAN PLZ.
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You’ve got great taste V, both about this film and also the blogs you peruse 🙂 I like how Urban didn’t shout ‘I AM THE LAWWWW’ like Stallone did!
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I recall that even little twelve year old me eye-rolled with a vengeance when that line was spluttered. Even then Mikey, yes even then, I had amazing taste.
;D
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I agree we should start a campaign to spread the Dredd word (not to be confused with Jedward). The reason it had such a low box office was because of the limited release (I seem to remember just a handful of showings over one week in September – hardly likely to be the next Dark Knight). This has the potential for an amazing sequel with a bit of extra scope. Watch it people, NOW.
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Yeah exactly D, it’s the potential that’s exciting. They’ve established a great cast and cool aesthetic and a bugger budget and story could be amazing. Maybe we could get Jedward to record the Dredd theme?!
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Not exactly sure what a “bugger budget” means, but I’m sure it would encourage more people to go see a sequel!
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Come on sequel!
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Together we can make it happen!
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Good review Mikey. While I didn’t quite love this like everybody else on the face of the planet seemed to, I give it credit for a cool, oozing style that gives us the gritty look and feel we needed for this type of material to work and get further and further away from the Stallone-vehicle.
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I f’ing loved this film! Great review, too.
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Thanks Laura!
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What made this film so spectacular for me was seeing it in 3D. It was the first time I had seen a 3D movie where the technology made sense and wasn’t overly gimmicky. So maybe your feeling about the effect levels would have shifted through that lens? Either way solid adaptation and enjoyable movie.
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That’s a really good point Caitlin. Sadly I can’t see 3D due to an eye condition I have. I wrote an article that was just a rant about 3D movies. It was very cathartic 🙂
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Ah, I’m sorry to hear that. But at least you get the benefit of ranting, which I find are completely worth while and serve their purposes beautifully.
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Haha yeah sometimes it’s nice to get mad at something 🙂
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