Dredd 3D

Lionsgate

Directed by Pete Travis
Screenplay by Alex Garland
Starring: Karl Urban (Judge Dredd); Olivia Thirlby (Judge Cassandra Anderson); Lena Headey (Ma-Ma); Wood Harris (Kay)

Some 800 million people crowd the avenues of Mega-City One, sheltered from the irradiated wasteland of North America’s Cursed Earth. The walled border protects its citizens from more than pervasive toxicity however. Should a refugee flee the confines of Mega-City One and somehow survive long enough to distance herself from its squalor, that lost soul would turn back to face a miserable premise in her final moments. From various angles, wide and level, the sprawling megalopolis registers as a graveyard, each monolithic mega block tower another grim headstone along the horizon. The blocks themselves are high-rise slums, ghettos so tall, the only way to go is down. Mega-City One is a place to live all of your life until you slump down and die. When that happens, whatever’s left of you is “recycled.” Casually. Cryptically.

It’s the kind of place where riots blossom at the slightest collision of pedestrians. Some 94% of its 17,000 daily (reported) crimes go unanswered, unpunished. But for the unfortunate hoodlums who do draw the attention of the stoic Judges of the overtaxed justice system, retribution is swift and absolute. Court rooms are housed under dauntless helms and due process arrives from the muzzle of voice activated Lawgiver sidearms, lending the term ‘judge’s chambers’ a haunting new meaning. Especially notorious among these stone-cold sentinels is Dredd, the last Judge you want to see in the rear-view whether you’re a bona fide crook or simply going about your business. Collateral damage is simply a hazard of waking up in Mega-City One.

These days, there’s even more creative ways to die. A new drug called “Slo-Mo” has hit the street in every sense of the word. Transported and consumed through inhalers, the narcotic alters perception instantaneously, slowing the world down to 1% of its normal speed. Or at least, that’s how it feels to the user. Chemically speaking, it’s an opportunity for these skells to stop and smell the roses in something like bullet time. Pleasure, as it turns out, is a precious commodity in Hell. Conceived as a beautiful but disorienting visual for movie audiences, the Slo-Mo sequences are refreshingly practical excuses to revel in slow motion photography, and often serve as warm respites from an otherwise gloomy film world. Not that everything that happens under the influence of Slo-Mo is enjoyable. To the extreme contrary. Distilling a moment of its innate, near cosmic pleasure into a sustained burst of euphoria works the other way too. Without giving too much away, imagine perceiving a moment’s pain and suffering as something far less fleeting.

Note: This kind of thing can be pretty gross.

So, Slo-Mo’s bad news, and it’s also against the law. That bothers Dredd something fierce. So, when a triple homicide investigation in a Mega Block called Peachtrees turns up evidence of a deeply entrenched drug ring, the enforcer endeavors to stamp out the problem where it lives. There’s a fly in the ointment though. Dredd is currently partnered with a young woman named Cassandra Anderson. It’s her first day on the job, and any other applicant with similar test skills would’ve been shown the door. Anderson has something those other rookies don’t though. Anderson is a mutant with the kind of natural talents that render scores and evaluations moot. Is it enough of an edge though? Or, is it actually a liability?

All rise for Judges Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) and Dredd (Karl Urban)

Assessment day is a trial by fire. Together, Dredd and Anderson represent the last remnants of law and decency when Madelaine “Ma-Ma” Madrigal, matriarch of the slum’s sovereign Ma-Ma gang, orders the block into lockdown. It’s a classic scenario rife with mounting suspense, reminiscent of Bruce Lee’s swan song Game of Death or 2011’s The Raid: Redemption. While it lacks the number of bold set pieces of either of those flicks, there’s no shortage of meat and potatoes gunplay. Dredd’s playing a longer game. In fact, it comes down to dread. Ma-Ma looms large over the complex. The Judges’ peril, their exceptionally unfavorable odds, remain acutely felt throughout their ordeal. Everyone in this 200-floor facility is out to get them.

Little pigs, little pigs. We will huff and puff and knock this mother down.

Anderson’s temperament–especially in contrast to Dredd’s–adds another welcome dimension. Anderson’s profound empathy for the innocent residents of Peachtrees means she shoulders a greater burden than Dredd, and Olivia Thirlby handily traverses that more traditional protagonist role. That’s important, because Urban’s Dredd doesn’t exhibit much change from start to finish. That’s not unusual for, say, a Batman appearance in a Justice League story. But it’d be a hugely controversial choice for a Batman solo film. Even more so for Spider-Man in one of his films. There’s no right or wrong philosophy here with regard to superhero stories in general, but Dredd has no alter ego. He’s a hurricane. His mask is his face and he suffers no real doubts. This isn’t even an origin story as we’re so accustomed. It’s simply an episode in Dredd’s ongoing crusade, and ends with an appropriate nod toward how little things have changed on the whole, even after such a daunting trial.

So, a litmus test.

If the prospect of receiving a movie on a rewritable disc scrawled with Sharpie, housed in a wrinkled paper sleeve with a plastic window, sounds unattractive, this second live action adaptation of Wagner and Ezquerra’s Judge Dredd serial might not be your flavor. If, however, it rekindles fond memories of exotic bootleg discovery, dodgy foreign imports and broken English captions, head thee to the multiplex. Starting with a delightfully low-res Reliance Entertainment logo at the head of the feature, Dredd 3D is a throwback to the cult classics of a bygone era, visually dark and coarse with a level of grindhouse grain often thicker than a South Jersey gnat storm (Your projection may vary). Though time has done much the same for 1995’s uneven (but not entirely uninspired) Sylvester Stallone vehicle, this new Dredd is so far removed from that previous film’s sensibility and aesthetic that each could practically be defined in its stark contrast to the other.

Where Stallone swiftly abandons the signature helmet after one introductory sequence, Karl Urban’s eyes are never on display. He could boast platinum cornrows under that dome and we’d never be the wiser. Though his chin has nothing on Sly’s or even some fellow Judges’ jawlines, his grimace is unwavering. Where Stallone looked to Diane Lane’s Judge Hershey for deeper insight into the legal system, it’s Urban who reminds new protege Anderson of the ins and outs of procedure. More importantly, Dredd 3D never attempts to dissect or demystify its protagonist. It’s a Man With No Name western to its counterpart’s standard adventure vehicle. To its boon or detriment, Dredd 3D is also largely humorless. Even if Rob Sneider isn’t your stop on the jolly trolley, the 1995 movie is inarguably lighter and campier. Could Dredd 3d have used a bit of levity? Probably. Sleepy, if cunning, Ma-Ma may even have benefitted from some of Rico’s bombast. But the verdict’s pretty clear on this one. Dredd 3D picks off exactly as much as it can chew and provides a refreshingly self-contained comic adaptation that boasts one of the most self-assured interpretations of its title hero.

First person who comments “I knew you’d say that.” gets a complimentary hot shot.

Movie Review: ‘Dredd 3D’ (Spoiler Free)

Dredd 3D

4 Stars

(Out of 5)

Comments