Dredd and Anderson never hesitate to draw their weapons when wading into conflict and their journey up the tower leaves piles of bodies in its wake.įorget the similarities to The Raid, Dredd is its own movie. The main draw of Dredd is the action sequences, many of them rendered in exquisite slow-motion as a result of the ‘slo-mo’ drug that is rife in Mega City One. If the Hall of Justice needed a duo that balances each other out, then this is definitely it. She has a softer side, even breaking into Dredd’s stoic nature by the end, but still manages to keep a razor-sharp edge when it’s needed. Olivia Thirlby’s Judge Anderson is the antithesis of Dredd. Credit to him for not going the way of Stallone and making sure he got a share of facetime. Karl Urban makes an impressive Judge Dredd, staying true to the comic and never removing his helmet. This is one of those happy coincidences, happy because both films are great (albeit very different) action pieces. Dredd, however, was scripted and filmed before Gareth Evans' martial arts extravaganza. They’re both essentially hyper-violent versions of Donkey Kong. On paper, the films are very similar protagonists must fight their way up a crime boss-controlled tower block against the assorted criminal inhabitants and take out the main bad guy/girl on the top floor. There have been cries of “rip-off” with regard to Dredd’s similarity to the The Raid, but it isn’t the case. Sound like The Raid much? It is, but without subtitles and with a man who never takes his helmet off.
When the pair are called to an incident at a Mega-Block called Peach Trees (such a sweet name for a dystopian high-rise slum), they come up against the ruthless female crime boss Ma Ma who puts the building on lock-down and challenges the residents to kill the two judges. Her academy scores were borderline, but her ability to read minds makes her a valuable asset. It’s her first day in the field and Dredd is tasked with assessing her suitability for permanent assignment to the Hall of Justice. Karl Urban takes the lead role with Olivia Thirlby as the rookie judge with extraordinary psychic ability. Thankfully, the home entertainment release landed with me just before Christmas, so I was able to indulge in the traditional seasonal treats of face-shootings, explosions and general ass-kickery. Never averse to a bit of gratuitous violence, the 2012 version had registered as a blip on my radar, but nothing that was essential viewing. Sylvester Stallone’s 1995 foray into the character did little to draw me in and re-ignite my interest. I had nothing against them, it just wasn’t something that ever appealed in the huge way it did to many of my friends. I was never much of a fan of Judge Dredd in the 2000AD comics. Written by John Wagner and Carlos EzquerraĢ012, Region B, 95 minutes, Rated 18 (UK) Blu-ray released by Entertainment in Video
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