I'm actually a little surprised that I forgot all about this last weekend: I went to see Dredd 3D, a new film based around the main player from zarjaz Brit-comic 2000AD, Judge Dredd.
What reminded me to correct this failure was that the 1995 Stallone movie (very) loosely based on the same character just happened to be on TV tonight. I believe I saw it on video (or possibly on TV)... at least, I'm fairly certain I didn't see that abomination on the big screen... either way, I've seen it once before and, aside from refreshing my memory for the sake of comparison, there really was no reason to watch it again.
Which is to say, there was no reason at all to watch it again, because there's no comparison.
The '95 movie was a waste of celluloid on many levels, not least that Stallone - either through personal ego or studio interference - only wore the helmet for about 20 minutes of the film, while the whole point of the character was that he was a faceless instrument of extreme law. In many ways, it was typical of action flicks, and particularly superhero/comic book flicks around that time, in that it missed the point of the source material and presented itself as a big blockbuster. There were interesting elements - such as Judge Rico, a man even more extreme in his interpretation of the law that Dredd, who turns his back on any concept of justice and then decides to create an army of clones to replace the Judges - but, by and large, the story bore little or no relation to the comics. It appeared to be a 'scene-setting' movie, intended to launch a franchise... but no follow-ups were ever made.
Probably a good thing... if only because it meant Dredd 3D didn't have to work as hard to cast off any lingering memories of that original travesty.
The new movie - starring Karl Urban, who keeps his helmet on all the way through (aside from the very beginning, when you see his silhouette putting the helmet on) - has apparently suffered by comparison to an Indonesian film from last year, called The Raid. Not having seen that film, I took Dredd 3D on its own merits... and kinda liked it, with reservations.
I hadn't realised beforehand that it had been classified as Cert-18 in the UK - partly, I guess, because I just couldn't believe that anyone would make a proper, grown-up film based on a comic, particularly in the light of the poor reception of the 'grown-up' version of Marvel's The Punisher. What I walked into was a bloodbath worthy of a horror movie. Strangely, even the Slo-Mo sequences, where the violence was rendered in intricate detail, weren't especially disturbing because they weren't particularly believable. Movie violence is fake - everyone knows that - but it works because it's done as sleight-of-hand. Slow it down, and all you see is obvious CGI trickery.
On the flipside, the sequences featuring trainee Judge Anderson 'interrogating' a suspect went a lot further and got a lot nastier than I'd expected. I can't say it was a pleasant surprise, even in the context, but it was impressive, and a very bold bit of movie-making.
There wasn't a whole lot of plot to it, but the idea behind the movie was to reintroduce Dredd and Megacity One through the eyes of a young rookie, following Dredd on a 'normal day'. This rookie just happens to be the mutant long-time fans of 2000AD will know as Psi-Judge Cassandra Anderson. Considering the way Anderson is portrayed in the comics, I wasn't too sure about Olivia Thirlby (she's not exactly a blonde bombshell) but, having seen the film now, I think she was a brilliant choice. Having her as the emotional core of the film, and following her arc rather than Dredd's, was another brilliant choice.
Also, where the '95 movie featured a pointless comedy sidekick (OK, he was intended to facilitate Dredd's 'emotional journey' through the film - a joke in itself), Dredd 3D is largely dark and humourless, though not entirely without comic relief - it's just minimal and better placed.
As a starting point, Dredd 3D was excellent, but it does suffer the malady of virtually every 'first chapter' movie - it doesn't really go anywhere. Let's just hope this one does turn into a franchise, because this interpretation of Dredd and his world is very deserving of further exploration.
No comments:
Post a Comment