Dredd ~ I wasn't sure I was going to get to see this flick. It painfully underperformed at the box office, and I wasn't sure it would last more than a week. Considering that most people only know the Judge Dredd character from that terrible Sylvester Stallone movie from 1995, it doesn't seem that off of a chance that folks would give this new one a pass. Thankfully however,
Dredd has little to do with the Sly film except for the source material. I'm not a big Judge Dredd fan myself, but I have read a handful of the Judge's tales and know that very little of that movie was accurate.
I was excited about this new version after hearing interviews with its title star Karl Urban (known for his brilliant Bones in the latest
Star Trek), director Peter Travis, and writer/producer Alex Garland. It seemed as though they both knew and loved the character, and were going to do Dredd right. The Judge was in the hands of true fans. I couldn't wait, as far as I'm concerned, characters handled by those who love them are usually done well.
Two weeks out from release I was surprised to find the flick still playing and checked it out. The surprises kept coming. This was not a great film, but it was a damned good Judge Dredd film. I thought about it. I got everything I could possibly want in a Judge Dredd movie. I had no complaints. Besides that, the casting was terrific, the 3D was amongst the best I've seen, and the soundtrack by Paul Leonard-Morgan was purchased from iTunes when I got home. What more can I say?
Dredd is not a perfect movie, but I do think it's the perfect Judge Dredd movie. Urban was on target, we got a story that fit both the standard action thriller genre (R-rated, mind you) and the future dystopian fantasy of Dredd's world. Unlike most superhero movies, it was story-centric, not origin-centric, that's a big plus for me. See it if you're a fan, catch it in 3D if you can. Well worth seeing.
