Dredd: Justice Served in Mega-City One
In the sprawling metropolis of Mega-City One, Judge Dredd (Urban), a law enforcer of unwavering resolve, teams up with a rookie partner (Thirlby) to infiltrate a towering 200-story skyscraper teeming with drug traffickers.
This project faced the daunting shadows of two potential pitfalls. The first, and perhaps most obvious, was the widely criticized 1995 film adaptation starring Sylvester Stallone, a movie that strayed so far from the source material that it even made room for Rob Schneider’s comedic antics. The second, a more unexpected challenge, was Gareth Evans’ “The Raid,” an Indonesian action film with a strikingly similar plot. The parallels are so strong that it’s difficult to watch “Dredd” without being reminded of “The Raid,” much like the inescapable comparisons between “Prometheus” and “Alien.” Unfortunately for “Dredd,” “The Raid” not only came first but also set a new standard for action films in recent years.
A Faithful Adaptation
The comic book character created by John Wagner has never been an easy fit for the big screen. Utterly devoid of humor, fiercely devoted to the law, and almost single-minded in his purpose, he’s essentially a Dirty Harry with fascist tendencies. Despite the temptation to give him a backstory that reveals a more human side beneath the helmet, director Pete Travis and screenwriter Alex Garland took a different approach. They doubled down on the violence (machine gun fire turns criminal heads into mush, and bodies plummeting 200 stories leave only wet stains) and kept Dredd a living embodiment of the phrase “stone-faced.” Throughout the film, he doesn’t change, doesn’t learn, and doesn’t doubt.
Karl Urban’s Performance
Much of the film’s success hinges on the actor portraying Dredd, and Urban delivers a stellar performance. He also possesses what might be the most formidable chin since Kirk Douglas.
A Worthy Attempt
Even if “Dredd” doesn’t spawn a franchise, this new attempt to bring the iconic comic book hero to the screen is, at the very least, a worthy endeavor.