When In Manila and you are looking for your weekly flick fix, Dredd 3D might be for you. But before you jump right into your conclusions and decide to skip this, I would like to assure you that no, this will not be a spoiler.
Dredd 3D (2012) stars:
Karl Urban as Judge Dredd he also starred in the following movies The Bourne Supremacy, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and The Two Towers, The Chronicles of Riddick, Red and Priest.
Olivia Thirlby as Anderson who also starred in Juno, No Strings Attached and The Darkest Hour to name a few.
Lena Headey as Ma-Ma who is also known by all the Game of Thrones fans out there as Cersei, that one plotting Lannister who had special relationship with her twin brother bringing this brat of a King, Geoffrey into the realms of Westeros.
Plot:
A movie set in a futuristic city called Mega-City where law is imposed by Judges, poverty is visible in every megablock and crime rate per minute is higher than the number of Judges in the force. It is a story of one tough – no nonsense enforcer, Judge Dredd (Urban) assigned as assessor of the rookie Anderson (Thirlby) for the day who got trapped in a 200-storey megablock when they decided to respond to a reported crime associated with Ma-Ma (Headey).
Review:
As promised this will not be a spoiler as I know the feeling when someone just spilled out everything good and bad about something you have been dreading to watch. As much as possible, I would hold my tongue on it.
Right off the bat, I would give the visual effects 4 out of 5 stars. Unlike other movies, Dredd would actually give you the actual thrill a 3D movie offers. The slow motion on certain parts of the movie could actually make you feel like seconds are longer than it should be. Although, given the fact that this is a movie packed with gruesome bloody scenes and some guns blazing, you would expect that entirety of the scenes would be shown but then again I would have the benefit of the doubt that it was toned down for some of the faint-hearted. I would still love to see those shaved few seconds of gruesomeness though if permitted.
As futuristic as this movie can be where assault weapons are like burgers, its everywhere, I still wanted to see some pure hand to hand combat. Perhaps the makers of the movie probably felt that to stick with the sci-fi concept characters must rely on gadgetry and advanced weaponry to pursue the villains of the story. I know I am hinting The Raid: Redemption here but of course, you would still be the judge for Dredd.
I must really commend how Urban played Dredd in the movie. Actors get to portray the best of their characters when their full facial expressions are shown. They most convey their message through their eyes and some lines on their faces. For someone who had to wear a helmet the entire duration of the movie and asked to relay his message across through the bottom part of his face (mouth and chin), he did extremely well. The smirk, the frown or whatever else you would call what his chin is doing; they actually all worked for me conveying that – he is a Judge, “this isn’t a negotiation”, and he is there to implement the law no matter the circumstance is.
Thirlby was kind of a surprise for me here, I have seen a few of the movies where she starred but did not really notice her much. I loved how she showed the innocence and toughness of her character but I thought she could have pulled a better portrayal when the scenes required her fear and anger.
Heady definitely can play the plotting bad ass villain chick. Supposedly ruthless and daunting, her character just lacked the certain kick to be those in some parts.
Verdict/Overall Rating:
It is not for the kids or for the faint-hearted due to the visuals and portrayed violence. Dredd is a movie you would not actually dread if you are into these kinds of plots. But if you are looking for some good lines take away, there are only a few remarkable ones during the entire duration but do not take it as a bad sign since this movie is indeed trying to stick to the essence of the Comic Book. Overall, I would give it 4 out of 5 imaginary magical stars.
So When In Manila, stop dreading on which the next flick to see, watch Dredd 3D, I am sure “you look ready” for this.
Dredd 3D movie review : Judgment Is Coming (Judge Dredd Reboot)
