Dredd 3D is set in the future where America has become a irradiated wasteland, stretching from Boston to Washington one city surrounded by a huge wall known as Mega City One has a population of 800 million people living in fear of the lawless crime & chaos where 17,000 serious crimes are reported every day. To try & combat the crime the Hall of Justice has been created, street Judges are given powers to act as judge, jury & if need be instant executioner. Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) is just about the toughest Judge out there, with no feeling for anything other than the law he is totally dedicated & fearless. A huge structure known as Peach Trees that houses 75,000 people is a breeding ground for gangs & criminals including the sadistic drug lord Ma-Ma (Lena Headey) who has developed a new addictive drug called 'Slo-mo', after she skins & kills three rival dealers Judge Dredd & rookie Judge Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) decide to investigate & arrest gang member Kay (Wood Harris) who know's too much so Ma-Ma seals the entire block in order to hunt down & kill the two Judges...
This American, English & Indian co-production was directed by Pete Travis & has nothing to do with the Sylvester Stallone starring Judge Dredd (1995) which most people seem to hate but I actually rather enjoyed although I was certainly not against a new harder, more violent & serious take on the character so I was looking forward to Dredd 3D & after having watched it I can only feel somewhat disappointed by a rather average sci-fi action film that offers very little besides lots of shooting. The character of Dredd is wasted, any tough cop character could have replaced Dredd & it wouldn't have made much difference. The script is largely set inside Peach Trees apartment block & the Mega City One is forgotten about, the problems of a future society are forgotten about & the routine script becomes a standard cops against criminals action thriller. The drug aspect of the script also feels clichéd, Ma-Ma as the main villain is very poor & this really needed a good villain against Dredd although I did like rookie Anderson as a character as she adds some humanity to Dredd's intenseness. At just over 90 minutes Dredd 3D has a good pace, the story is basic but alright for what it is although the action is patchy & a bit unimaginative. The issues surrounding the powers that ordinary cops should have are ignored, issues about drug taking are never raised & all the social commentary that could have been included to make a more worthwhile & thought provoking film has been completely bypassed.
It's been noted just how similar the basic story of Dredd 3D is to that of The Raid (2011) although apparently both films went into production at the same time & Dredd 3D supposedly finished filming first. Another film Dredd 3D reminded me of was the original Die Hard (1989) set inside that huge building with a maverick cop on his own having to take out the bad guy's against the odds. The action is alright but there's nothing amazing here, there's plenty of shooting, a few fights & actually not much else. There's a fair bit of violence here, there's plenty of blood as well with bullets flying through people's faces, blowing heads off & hands being blown off. The production design is good, the futuristic city is part real recognisable world with added CGI computer attachments to enhance the landscape & turn it into a plausible vision of the future. Unlike in the Stallone film Dredd never removes his helmet during this, am I really the only one who thinks it looks a bit plastic & silly like a child's toy?
With a supposed budget of about $50,000,000 this didn't have a huge budget but I would hardly call it low budget like some are saying. The production design & special effects work is certainly more low key, much more restrained & less futuristic than in the Stallone film, just compare the motorbikes Dredd rides in the two films to see what I mean. Shot in Cape Town & Johannesburg in South Africa. This did nothing at the box-office & barely made th top 10 when released in the US, so with Stallone's film & now this both bombing I think this may be the last we see of Dredd on the big screen. The acting is alright, Karl Urban as Dredd has to act with his mouth as the rest of his face is covered up for the entire film, I also thought Olivia Thirlby was really good but I thought Lena Headey was terrible as the villain & simply wasn't imposing or threatening.
Dredd 3D is a decent enough sci-fi action thriller that I thought could have been better, it felt rather routine & I thought the Dredd character & universe was wasted. I don't know, it just felt like this Jugde Dredd character was simply placed into a slightly above average action film. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either, I actually probably like the Stallone one better.
This American, English & Indian co-production was directed by Pete Travis & has nothing to do with the Sylvester Stallone starring Judge Dredd (1995) which most people seem to hate but I actually rather enjoyed although I was certainly not against a new harder, more violent & serious take on the character so I was looking forward to Dredd 3D & after having watched it I can only feel somewhat disappointed by a rather average sci-fi action film that offers very little besides lots of shooting. The character of Dredd is wasted, any tough cop character could have replaced Dredd & it wouldn't have made much difference. The script is largely set inside Peach Trees apartment block & the Mega City One is forgotten about, the problems of a future society are forgotten about & the routine script becomes a standard cops against criminals action thriller. The drug aspect of the script also feels clichéd, Ma-Ma as the main villain is very poor & this really needed a good villain against Dredd although I did like rookie Anderson as a character as she adds some humanity to Dredd's intenseness. At just over 90 minutes Dredd 3D has a good pace, the story is basic but alright for what it is although the action is patchy & a bit unimaginative. The issues surrounding the powers that ordinary cops should have are ignored, issues about drug taking are never raised & all the social commentary that could have been included to make a more worthwhile & thought provoking film has been completely bypassed.
It's been noted just how similar the basic story of Dredd 3D is to that of The Raid (2011) although apparently both films went into production at the same time & Dredd 3D supposedly finished filming first. Another film Dredd 3D reminded me of was the original Die Hard (1989) set inside that huge building with a maverick cop on his own having to take out the bad guy's against the odds. The action is alright but there's nothing amazing here, there's plenty of shooting, a few fights & actually not much else. There's a fair bit of violence here, there's plenty of blood as well with bullets flying through people's faces, blowing heads off & hands being blown off. The production design is good, the futuristic city is part real recognisable world with added CGI computer attachments to enhance the landscape & turn it into a plausible vision of the future. Unlike in the Stallone film Dredd never removes his helmet during this, am I really the only one who thinks it looks a bit plastic & silly like a child's toy?
With a supposed budget of about $50,000,000 this didn't have a huge budget but I would hardly call it low budget like some are saying. The production design & special effects work is certainly more low key, much more restrained & less futuristic than in the Stallone film, just compare the motorbikes Dredd rides in the two films to see what I mean. Shot in Cape Town & Johannesburg in South Africa. This did nothing at the box-office & barely made th top 10 when released in the US, so with Stallone's film & now this both bombing I think this may be the last we see of Dredd on the big screen. The acting is alright, Karl Urban as Dredd has to act with his mouth as the rest of his face is covered up for the entire film, I also thought Olivia Thirlby was really good but I thought Lena Headey was terrible as the villain & simply wasn't imposing or threatening.
Dredd 3D is a decent enough sci-fi action thriller that I thought could have been better, it felt rather routine & I thought the Dredd character & universe was wasted. I don't know, it just felt like this Jugde Dredd character was simply placed into a slightly above average action film. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either, I actually probably like the Stallone one better.