I've been sick from school today, so I decided to watch the movie Dredd today. When I had first seen the previews for this movie, I was intrigued, but didn't have enough interest to actually see it. The movie stayed in my head, though, and at the time I had no idea it was based on an old comic series until I was browsing Barnes & Noble the other day and saw volume 1 of the complete Judge Dredd comics. I bought it and read through most of it, and I was really entertained.
If you don't know much about the Dredd comics, the series takes place hundreds of years in the future in a large, ruined city name Mega City 1. The human race had suffered a massive nuclear war and much of the world was turned to ruin. Many people turned into mutants, gaining strange powers and usually having a thirst for blood. MC 1 is the biggest urban center in the world, housing thousands of people. Surrounding the city are massive walls to leave out the bloodthirsty mutants and to keep the people away from the horrors of outside.
Crime runs rampant in MC 1, so laws are regulated by people called Judges. Judges are emotionless, usually very strict "cops" who patrol the city and punish crime. Judge Dredd is notorious for being a particularly violent judge, and he is the law.
The movie centers around a very large, 200 story apartment complex that is quarantined by a gang called the MaMa gang, run by a bloodthirsty and really disturbing woman named Madeline Madrigal. Judge Dredd is trapped inside with his new, rookie partner, Judge Anderson. She is a mutant psychic, and is able to read minds and sense things around her. Together, they must find MaMa and bring her to justice.
One major thing I really enjoyed about the movie was that it stuck to the comics nicely in a thematic sense. Its very dark, violent, and over-the-top, which perfectly describes anything Judge Dredd related. Karl Urban did a great job portraying Judge Dredd as a calm, emotionless machine that the audience can't help but admire. My only real complaint about the movie was, at times, the pacing was kind of slow. That could be because of SlowMow, a drug that is consistent through the movie which makes the user feel as though time moves at 1% its usual speed. It makes for some pretty sections of the movie where the ones using the drugs submerge themselves in this slowed-down reality. Its nice, but can really break up the pace sometimes.
Overall, I recommend this movie to anyone looking for a fun, action movie with lots of blood and bad-assery. Also, read the Judge Dredd comics, because they are super cheesy and really fun.
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