DREDD

I've just seen the Dredd movie via a DVD screener, and was surprised at how good it is. It's a pity the movie flopped at the box office and that a series is unlikely to be developed. So why did a film this good fail to find the expected audience? Personally I skipped it in the cinema because my local multiplex only had the movie in 3D and I just don't like 3D - the standard 2D is immersive enough if the movie is done well and it doesn't give a large percentage of movie-goers an headache.

Dredd really is done well.

We get a really nice early sequence in Mega City One, post apocalyptic America, before the movie wisely confines the bulk of the action to one of the massive mega blocks - blocks are towering high-rises that contain thousands of residents and each are like mini cities within the larger city.

The movie totally makes up for the 1995 Stallone turkey and here on the screen we have a Dredd that in terms in bringing the comic book character to life is nigh on perfect. The plot also is spot on though it is unfortunate that it so closely resembles the Raid, which managed to get the the big screen  before Dredd. Still the similarity in plots was unintentional and there are some great moments in Dredd. Some of the cleverly blocked out sequences even resemble panels from the comic book strips that first brought Dredd to existence.


Dredd's certainly a tough sell - on the surface  he may seem like a superhero, tailor-made for the Batman and Avengers audience, but that is not the case. The Stallone movie made the mistake of depicting Dredd as a square jawed hero, but this time the movie Dredd is very much the fascist tool of the state that the comic book invented all those years ago, and Mega City comes across as grimy as the 1970's UK that first inspired the initial creation of the character.


Let's hope Dredd does well enough on  DVD to inspire a sequel. The film certainly deserves one but next time forget the 3D.



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