Josh Keown | Night Terror Novels 🧛🏻♂️’s review published on Letterboxd:
“In case you have forgotten, this block operates under the same rules as the rest of the city. Ma-Ma is not the law... I am the law.”
-Judge Dredd (Karl Urban)
A film is a film. A film adaptation, not matter from which source material it is derived, should succeed predominantly as a film above all else. The Lord of the Rings, adapted from Tolkien’s novels, works as a standalone series of film. Sin City, from the comic series of the same name, operates as a film, whether you are familiar with the source material or not.
With that in mind, the newly released Dredd film was not quite as brilliant as I had anticipated it to be. It was great, but not quite fantastic in my eyes, and I believe a large part of this comes from its assumption that all viewers should be fairly familiar with the universe of Dredd. The backstory, character development and narrative setup are kept to a bare minimum before we are plunged into a The Raid-esque situation. As such, if you don’t know the character and universe’s background, you may be slightly up a creek without a canoe.
Having said that though, Dredd does work wonders. They deemed novels such as LotR and Life of Pi unfilmable, but I would argue this was equally as problematic. A large part of this comes from Judge Dredd himself, one of the most emotionless and uncharismatic characters ever created (not that I’m raising an issue there, as the comic and character does demand it), a figure unwavering in his enforcement of justice. As such, it was nigh on impossible for any filmmaker or actor to make this character work as an on-screen protagonist, but director Travis and lead Urban do so admirably.
Urban slips into the role with ease, delivering one of the most memorable performances of his career, and with just his chin, no less. He has the perfect blend of authoritative gravitas and deadpan humour to bring an admittedly one-dimensional character to life. Olivia Thirlby is also terrific as the rookie sidekick whom has still not fully come to terms with meting out fatal justice. Heading up the expendable army of thugs and brutes is Lena Hadley as Ma-Ma, again offering sterling delivery of her psychotic ruthlessness. The script is sharp and snappy, giving a neat formula of suitable narrative drama and memorable one-liners. Visually, Dredd is quite the spectacle, with strong artistic style and some nicely devised hallucinogenic sequences that feature slow motion at its brutal best, bolstered by an electrifying soundtrack.
But for all its bells and whistles, the lack of narrative and character development rendered me with an ever so slight impartiality. Had I not been familiar with this universe and its characters, I’d wager much would have been lost on me, and hero Dredd virtually impossible to associate with, and it is this that prevents me from stepping up to the 4 mark. However, even those with no knowledge of the universe will find a lot to enjoy here, as it is an ace action film on its own. Those that love Dredd will be in heaven.
VERDICT; Dredd is by no means perfect, or the action classic it might have been. But all things considered, it is a very good film; a simple yet thoroughly enjoyable story, impressive visuals and solid acting and writing. It’s a world away from the abominable Stallone one from 1995, leastways. In case you've forgotten.
3.5/5 or 7/10