Dredd [DVD]

This film is an introduction to a day in the life of Dredd, it doesn't need to be complex, it just needs to show one Judge's belief in getting the job done...and that's what DREDD has done. The pre-release interviews state it's for the fans and the comics were always about Dredd dealing with situations, no character building only Justice.

For the reviewers stating this film has an anti-climax, you really didn't get it.....OK there was no "boss fight", but that was the point, to Dredd, Ma-Ma was just another Perp in an everyday event in Mega City One, she derserved no more screen time at the finale than Dredd gave her, his job is to enforce Judgement to Criminals, that's what he did, then went straight back out to tackle more scum in Mega City's crime ridden existence. He is old Stoney Face, and his committment to the Justice Dept. is his chartacter, this film has always been for the fans, I for one am glad of the low budget and lack of interference from the Hollywood Gloss and Dross.

Most others who enjoyed this movie approached it with low expectations and came away shocked by how good it was. My expectations were high because I'd read a lot of positive reviews by the time it reached my part of the world, but my reaction was the same.

This is the kind of simple, taut action movie I thought people had forgotten how to make. It throws you into the deep end and never lets you come up for air. At just over 90 minutes, DREDD tells its story, gets the heck out, and leaves you wanting more. It's the best kind of comic book movie; the kind that stays true to the roots of its source material, attempts to recreate the sensation of reading a comic in a striking way (in this case, the slo-mo effects), and acknowledges deeper themes without being preachy.

Negative reviews I've read seem rooted in an inability to accept a film that doesn't constantly spoon-feed viewers by telling them what they're supposed to think about every character or situation. Either that or they find fault with the movie for not being exactly like everything else that came out in 2012. To me, not having a ridiculously convoluted plot that's padded out with half a film's worth of clumsy character development and exposition is a merit, not a drawback. DREDD is an action film that exists to entertain, and it achieves this aim with a brutal efficiency that modern action film makers would do well to take note of.

While it works on a purely visceral level, DREDD also has subtlety to it that makes it more rewarding than standard action fodder. Examples include a scene in which the rookie Anderson is in an elevator with Dredd, clearly traumatised after having to shoot someone. Dredd stares at her disapprovingly, scrutinizing her; Anderson notices and desperately pulls herself together. It's a subtle, wordless illustration of the brutalizing effect of Dredd's world and a hint of what made him the way he is, there for receptive viewers to pick up on. Rarely for a modern action film, viewers are credited with enough imagination to think things over themselves.

Maybe it's this simple emotional core amid all the carnage. Maybe it's the stylish cinematography and evocative music. Maybe it's the way Karl Urban completely and unselfishly inhabits the character of Judge Dredd; maybe it's Olivia Thirlby's sensitive performance as Anderson. But this is one of those rare action films that lingers in the senses long after you see it. Well worth owning.

Best action film I've seen in years. Short of starring Clint Eastwood in his prime you could not wish for a better Dredd than Karl Urban. He is Dredd.
And it is not a horrible PG watered down action film either. It's proper blood spraying old school violent. The soundtrack is great too.