The premise is beyond simple. Judge Dredd and new trainee Judge Anderson enter into one of the sprawling tenements of Mega-City One to take down Ma-Ma,and her gang, who are distributing a new, and of course immensely addicting and lethal drug called Slo-Mo.
once on the call, Dredd and Anderson are trapped within the building, as ma-Ma's gang batten's down the hatches, and goes on the hunt for our uber violent law officer and his rookie side-kick.
Cue a fuckton of ammo, detailed shots of faces coming apart, right down to their chompers and mandibles coming atcha in slow motion, blood splattered (and 3D if you saw it in theaters or have the set-up at home), gorey glory. DREDD isn't plotless by any means, but it is, as I said, incredibly simple. It's all about the execution (pardon the pun), and execute DREDD does. Over and over and over.
Expertly shot, director Pete Travis (VANTAGE POINT) has a clear understanding of what the universe of Judges is all about, which is bullets, merciless justice dealt out to deserving villains, by a lone lawman on a bad ass motorcycle, armed to the nines with an more bad ass weaponry. Travis and screenwriter Alex Garland get right into the thick of things after a quick introduction to the Dystopian universe initially created in the pages of the UK comics magazine 2000 A.D. by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra, where the entire continent has become a connected sprawl that thrives on crime...and punishment.
This move was so rocking, it's a total shame fans didn't flock to the theaters to make it a hit. It was virtually ignored, getting a bit more mileage when it hit home video, but still doesn't get the respect it deserves. The cast of Karl Urban (STAR TREK), Olivie Thirlby (NO STRINGS ATTACHED), and Leanna Headey (GAME OF THRONES) show that high, uber violent action films, don't have to be devoid of good performances. if I were a rich man, a sequel would already exist, and we'd have our Judge Death story (with creature actor extraordinaire Doug Jones playing the Eddie-like monstrous spectral, skeletal Judge whose "...sentence is Deathhhhhh". But alas, all we have is this installment, but here's hoping the fan community can keep the dream alive, and keep pushing for the movie geek miracle that would be DREDD 2.
~Sean Smithson
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