Dredd

Plot:  In a violent, futuristic city where the police have the authority to act as judge, jury and executioner, a cop teams with a trainee to take down a gang that deals the reality-altering drug, SLO-MO.

Director:

Pete Travis

Writers:

John Wagner (characters), Carlos Ezquerra (characters), 1 more credit »

Stars:

Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Lena Headey

Like action movies?  Then park your ass and watch Dredd.  This re-imagining pays homage to the graphic novels the way that the original Judge Dredd movie was supposed to.  But then Stallone got attached to it, and then the writers wanted to change things, and then director wanted to make it look more dynamic, and the result was the giant buttered popcorn tub movie that hollywood farted out back in 1995.  

There is nothing wrong with Judge Dredd, it just doesn't kick nearly as much ass that Dredd does.  There are no wacky characters for comic relief, there are no shitty cannibal mutants, there are massively powerful robots who are defeated by pulling out a single wire..  Best of all, Dredd never takes off his helmet!  To Dredd fans, this is an essential.

There is just violence, drugs, more violence, more drugs, suggested rape, more violence and then a very bad ass ending.

Sound stupid?  I won't lie, it is.  But it's an action movie.  It's a shoot 'em up.  But it's dark and gritty and it doesn't fuck around.  The story is tight, it doesn't try to do too much and it doesn't waste your time either.  It's just a retelling of a story about one insanely bad ass future cop and his psychic sidekick.

I didn't watch it in 3-D, but I am sure that it would have been pretty awesome from the way it was shot and the way the footage is presented.  But lots of people are getting sick of the 3-D and the good news is that the movie is fine in 2-D.  It's not like Battleship, where you are watching it specifically to see giant 3-D robots leap off the screen.  There is actually a story here, with dialogue that doesn't suck.

I really shouldn't have to say this, but if you are the type of person that likes Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants you may want to pass on this one.

4/5 STARS