Dredd

Ah Dredd...you were so close!

Oh! Hello faithful reader! I was just reminiscing to myself how much I wanted Dredd to blow me away like I thought it was going to. 

In case you don't know, this is the second movie based on the popular Judge Dredd comic. It is not related to the first in any way thankfully (the first one featured Stallone and was one of his worst movies ever, if not his worst). The story goes as such: the world has been ravaged by nuclear blasts--surprise surprise-- and now 800 million people live in a "megacity" that spans from Boston to Washington D.C. To keep order, there are judges who are the law and executioners. Hence the name, Judge Dredd. In this film in particular, Dredd and a rookie judge get called to a triple homicide at a megabuilding (skyscrapers that house thousands and are over a kilometer high) and become trapped inside once things go awry. They must get to the top to kill the drug-lord, Ma-ma, who manufactures and distributes the drug, Slow-Mo. Sounds simple enough? And it is, which is perfect for a film that is almost all action. 

I have heard several reviewers and critics claim that this is more of a character study than an action film. To which I have to say: are you serious? Maybe from the rookie judge's point of view, but as far as Dredd himself having character development...you are crazy. 

The rookie certainly has some character development...
but not enough to call this film a "character study". Geesh...critics!

*Screams like a little girl and runs away*

But alas, I am getting off topic. As I was saying before, Dredd really had me going, for about 40 minutes actually. It starts off with a dark feel featuring Dredd riding around the megacity on his police motorcycle. To say it echoes scenes from The Dark Knight trilogy would be an understatement. His bike roars across the screen with thunderous noise and for these moments I was enthralled; this must be a classic in the making!? And then Slow-Mo is introduced and the premise of the film got infinitely more interesting. The Slow-Mo scenes are epic...slowing down time to 1/100th of actual speed and adding a bunch of lighting effects to the environment. AND THEN the movie got gory. Shockingly gory. Instantly I was thinking that I was going to be as blown away by this one as I was by Kick-Ass several years ago. Finally, there was a super-gory action scene with Slow-Mo that had me sold. This was for sure going to be a great movie! 

And then mediocrity set in. And it set in heavily. 

Slow-Mo: making bath time more fun since 2056!

After that big action scene with Slow-Mo, the movie is still entertaining, but it entertained me far less effectively than it had been. The action scenes seemed less stellar, the corny one-liners a little less awesome, and the plot a little bit dumber than it had been before. For me personally, I was so blown away by the Slow-Mo action scene that I was just waiting and waiting and waiting for something like it to happen again. And other than a little bit of Slow-Mo being used in the ending, it never happened again. So for me, the movie peaked at about the 40 minute mark and never regained the heights it achieved early on. 

Slow-Mo: also making death more painful since 2056!

So reader...you are looking for my judgement on Dredd (haha see what I did there?)? Here is my final verdict: the movie is an action movie, pure and simple. The plot is easy to follow and while the rookie judge's growth is admirable and interesting, it is hardly "a character study". The performances are actually much better than you would have thought and the action scenes are well done and fun to watch. But while the film starts strong and continues to do so for a considerable amount of time, it ultimately treads into "average" territory and stays there until the last 15 minutes where it seems to gather back some of its momentum. 

So rather than putting this one on death row, give it parole and rent it sometime. But I'll reserve the final JUDGEMENT to you, my faithful followers. 

Wow...I really need to get some better/less cheesy exiting lines...

Pros:

• Starts off strong. Very strong. To be honest, I really thought that it was going to be a 9/10 or possibly even a 10/10 for a pretty long time. It's dark, intense, interesting, gory, and visceral
• Good performances by all. Karl Urban gives a perfectly dry rendition of Dredd
• The plot is weak, but keeps things simple. I was never confused or worried about getting confused
• Slow-Mo. Plain and simple, I think that this movie would have been much better with even just one more Slow-Mo action scene. The first one is so damn cool and shockingly violent that for me, it overshadows the entire movie
• The soundtrack is pretty good. They try to go for the Drive-synthesizer feel, and while it is nowhere near as successful, it is still a valiant effort
• Also, the 3D is some of the better 3D that I have seen in a while. Especially the Slow-Mo scenes

Cons:

• Becomes very average in almost every sense of the word. The action is nothing we haven't seen before during this portion
• At one point Dredd decides to go on and continue upward in order to kill Ma-ma. It seems like the only motivation to do so is to continue the movie
• The ending, while trying to capture the magic of the beginning, is too little too late

Rath's Review Score: 7/10