This is a tribute to Dredd as well as Nancy Drew….Sharpshooter. . Judge Dredd definitely looked good here as he took out tons of fighters and wasn’t even breaking a sweat. Nobody could take him down and Nancy won’t be pulling this off either. Ultimately she gets distracted from her mission too much and doesn’t have the level of discipline that he has. Detective skills can only take you so far in a fight. Judge Dredd wins.
This review is of the edited TV-14 version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative
Judge Dredd has returned for another film outing. The first film was rather solid and had a good blend of action and excitement. This one doubles down on how corrupt the city is which makes sense on why the Dredds are around. It unfortunately focuses a little too much on the tragedies as opposed to Dredd making the world a better place and ultimately falters due to its own violence but at least you do get a hype soundtrack here and some memorable action scenes.
The film starts off with Dredd taking out some more delinquents and then his boss says that he will have to evaluate a new cadet. Dredd isn’t thrilled about that because historically he’s been a solo act but this is how it has to be this time. The new recruit is Cassandra and she is a telepath which is definitely handy to have in the field but Dredd still feels like she might not be ready for the level of danger in this job. He intends to be a harsh but fair mentor but what should have been a routine bust ends up being a whole situation as Ma-Ma takes over the building and locks it down. She is the head of the ultimate gang that runs this show and says that Dredd must die. He and Cassandra must try to stay alive while also keeping their prisoner Kay alive so he can be tried and brought to justice.
With the heroes locked in that does make for a rather tense setting in the building. I also thought there was a good amount of variety as the heroes go through the floors so it never felt confined. This is a really big building after all so that never became an issue. The visuals are solid here with a lot to look at and Dredd’s uniform definitely appears to be very faithful to the comic. I wouldn’t have any complaints there. It also ties in well with the really good rock music that plays throughout the film. It helps to get you in the zone and it makes the film as a whole a lot more exciting too. A good soundtrack goes a long way.
Dredd also makes for a very solid main character. He doesn’t let his emotions get in the way and tends to be a very pragmatic character who wants to take in his opponents alive but if they shoot first then he has to respond. Often times they are dealing with hardened murderers here so Dredd and Cassandra just have to open fire when they’re being attacked. Given the context of the world at large and the situation they’re in, it makes sense why they can’t all be jailed. In this world attacking a Judge is also a really serious offense.
The criminal system here is definitely interesting and I’d like to see that go into more depth someday. Regardless, Dredd lives up to his hype of being the most dangerous Dredd around. He overcomes a significant disadvantage in numbers and makes it all look easy. Not to say that he’s unbeatable though and he has to deal with real issues like running out of ammo but he always chooses the optimal path in tough situations.
Then we have Cassandra who does really well too. Her mind reading ability comes in handy several times. I was glad it helped her dodge a pretty big trick by the villains in pretending to be an ally at one point and it also gave her the edge over Kay. When you’re a telepath you should absolutely be able to crush anyone trying to beat you in the mind space and that’s exactly what happened here. If it had been close at all then that would have been disappointing. An expert just shouldn’t lose to a novice.
Cassandra’s abilities also put her in a unique position to really know who is a victim and who is an attacker. She’s more emotional and lenient than Dredd as well which can be an asset or a liability depending on the circumstance. Either way she would definitely make for a very good judge and they would be lucky to have her on the team. There aren’t any other heroes in the film with a notable role so Dredd and Cassandra have to be able to rely on each other when the going gets tough. If either one of them was not prepared for this then it would not have gone over well.
The main villain Ma-Ma was not all that good though. I appreciate that she had a plan for everything at least. No matter what the heroes did she would reveal another tactic or technique to even the field. Right up to the end it felt like she had everything under control and it took a really crafty idea to take her down. I can appreciate the grit it took to rise to the top and all but ultimately she’s quite psychotic and her grand goals don’t amount to much more than wanting to be at the top. If she could fight more personally that would have helped her.
She’s considerably better than Kay though. They’re both rather demented and I don’t think for a second that she would hesitate to do any of the stuff that Kay did, but he was around more so in a way we got to really see how depraved he was. The guy was annoying throughout the film and in a way he’s lucky that he wasn’t shot dead with a lot of the other villains. If Cassandra could have said she was 100% positive he may have been axed out near the very beginning.
So the Dredd movie has a lot of nonstop action and I love the premise of being stuck in a building filled with enemies and no way out. That part’s good but the film just ends up suffering due to how over the top violent it is. In a lot of ways I think the movie was trying to really show that it was different than the original. The original was more comedic and had a lot of light hearted moments so this one probably wanted to show how dark the city of Dredd’s is. It does make sense that it would be bad out there since the point is that the world’s really gotten as bad as possible but even then you can do that without all of the details.
The people who die are basically cut up and die in really vicious ways. You have the whole mental battle with Kay and Cassandra which immediately goes for the gritty/nasty kind of visions for them. They both play dirty in order to get the win at the audience’s expense. Then even the gun fights could be handled in more of a stylized way. You definitely don’t need the full explosion for every shot. There are plenty of action films with gun fights where you know the hit connected and the guy goes down but it’s not a huge splatter. It’s not as big a deal as the other elements since they are at least combatants but you could tell it’s the film trying hard.
I also thought the slow-mo was way overdone here. I went in a full circle with that because at first I was rolling my eyes at this, then they showed that it was a part of the plot. So I thought, all right…they showed this so we could understand the drug. But then it kept on happening over and over again so it went all the way around the world back into being excessive again. At that point it just became a negative. Slow motion shots can be cool, a lot of action films use this to great effect but there needs to be a purpose. A cool background effect, a nice scene, a great pose, etc. Not just someone smoking their drugs as we see it in slow-mo. It was just annoying more than anything. At least it did nullify one scene that I thought was going to be a fanservice moment but it turned out that this was not the case. Slow-mo has its use there at least although you could just say that the scene was filmed well because slow-mo could also backfire in that kind of way.
Overall, Dredd is a very intense action film. I can see the appeal as it’s basically the Punisher in a really rough environment who doesn’t need to take any prisoners. In this case he’s even government sanctioned so it’s not like he is defying the law to do it. I’d say you can do this without making the film be so over the top though. It takes away from the scenes that are pretty cool like when the other Judges showed up. That was really interesting. This film in a lot of ways is like Resident Evil. It’s a very interesting film but also tragic in the sense that you can see how this could have been great if it could have just held back a lot.
Overall 2/10
This review is of the edited TV-14 version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative
Judge Dredd always had a pretty interesting setting. To an extent it’s sort of like what would happen if Gotham City didn’t have Batman and had to exist that way for another 50-100 years. By the time we did get a true crime fighter then the place would probably be too far gone to actually be saved. That’s the kind of environment the film takes place in and it actually works rather well. The film does a really good job on the effects.
The movie starts by showing us another gang war in the streets. Fergie got roped into this by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. So when Judge Dredd shows up and takes everyone down, Fergie is sent off to jail as well. See, there’s no court system or anything like that (Unless you are a Judge) so if you’re taken in by the law that’s game over. Gone are all of those legal establishments. In this distant future, the Judges serve as jury and executioner. What they say will go and so the world is perpetually unhappy and in a lot of inner wars.
To really illustrate the kind of place this is, the first scene has everyone using giant blasters. Given how unsurprised everyone is, you also see how this is a fairly regular occurrence. You’re either able to try and stay out of the spotlight or you better have good gun skills because it’s game over otherwise. There’s an opening message at the beginning of the film that explains the lore a bit as well.
Then you have the city backdrop which is really nice. Mix that in with the cool sci-fi guns that are coded to your DNA and the effects team should definitely be given a thumbs up here. It’s all aged rather well and the Judge costumes are also on point. I dare say that it will be very difficult for the next films to top them here. They’re really on point and my only complaint is that they aren’t used very often.
It’s what I call the “Adam West” syndrome where you have a great concept but don’t actually use it for most of the film. This came into being with how they made two animated Adam West films and in one film Batman turned evil while I think Robin turned evil in the other one. As a result you really didn’t get to have the fun dynamic/type of story you were hoping for. It’s like this with Judge Dredd as well. It’s a great kind of adventure story to see him patrolling the streets and taking down criminals but after the first chunk of the film that is gone forever.
This is due in part to the main plot. See, the general plot of Judge Dredd is that he has been framed. Someone is using his weapons and since they are tied to DNA that means he must be the one who has been murdering people and committing crimes. Dredd believes in the law 100% so he’s also not really sure how to defend himself. A good chunk of the film is Dredd learning that maybe the law isn’t infallible and trying to work his way back into the city.
So the second half is still a pretty fun adventure but it isn’t really “Judge Dredd” the way that the first chunk was. I dare say that the film would have risen up to great status if it had just stayed like the opening bit. Ah well, maybe next time. The action stays solid in both halves although you do feel like the other Judges should be a little stronger.
Basically if you aren’t Judge Dredd then you won’t be doing very well here at all. We see around 100 Judges get destroyed by sneak attacks, bombs, and a giant robot. Given how Dredd is able to handle all of these guys you would just expect a little better. The film does warn you early on that some of these guys are weak though with how the cadet goes down.
So Dredd’s a great main character. He’s definitely all about the law even if he is rather strict with it. The guy was practically made for the job and takes it extremely seriously. Even when he is asked to go back to school the guy assumes it’s for some more hand to hand skills. He’s eager and that’s what you want to see in a main character. I definitely had no complaints.
Then you have Barbara who is the main heroine here. She’s a Judge as well and can certainly fight better than most of the others. I’d give her a thumbs up as well. She’s someone that Dredd could actually count on and that’s big in this kind of world. She did her best in the trial and gets a lot of good moments. The cast is fairly small so it’s important that the big characters did well.
Then you have Fergie who is the main comic relief. He gets a lot of good lines as well. The guy’s at his best when he’s rubbing the situation in to Dredd since he got captured early on. Fergie is not the kind of guy to drop a grudge, I can definitely tell you that. It gets a little cheesy when he actually defeats an opponent later on though so I always say you should keep comic relief characters away from the actual battling. Still, he served his role well enough.
Finally you have the main villain Rico. He’s the only one I wasn’t sold on. I think it’s in part because the guy relies on a ton of luck in order to win his battles. Without things going perfectly he should have lost early on. I find it hard to believe that he was even able to escape prison. That whole sequence will leave you shaking your head. It’s a good thing one of the villainesses liked him to get some babies ready for the experiments or that would have been another hurdle.
All of the villains seem to trust Rico despite the fact that he is completely insane. It just makes you wonder why. The worst is the villainous judge who was on board with the plan from the start and directly caused the deaths of 100+ judges. At the last second he suddenly wants to have some second thoughts. Cmon now, Rico was definitely not going to allow that to happen and this guy should have known that.
The only other decent judge was Judge Fargo and even he was a little too quick to believe in Dredd’s guilt. The guy needed to stand by his pupil through thick and thin. There are also a few random bounty hunters and thugs running around but these are all of the important characters to make note of. The rest are there to flesh things out of course.
Overall, The writing is on point with the film and with the fast pacing it is over in the blink of an eye. There are definitely some violent moments when people get blown apart but surprisingly it’s quite a bit more mild than you might have expected going in. Get ready for one character to go down shockingly quick after they show up near the end though. It’s almost funny in an ironic kind of sense since you were expecting big things here. If you want to check out a classic comic book film with some good action and adventure then I would recommend checking this one out. It’s aged pretty well.
Overall 7/10
This is a tribute to the Judge Dredd film. Dredd actually looked consistently good in this film. He may have ultimately been taken down by the corrupt laws at one point but he always got back up. In a fair fight he would easily crush Mathias in an instant. This wouldn’t even be much of a fight as one blast from his Shotgun should definitely do the trick. That will be game over. Judge Dredd wins.
Judge Dredd is a fairly big name in the comic world, but I have to say that I was never familiar with the character so I can’t say that I was impressed. He was just another variation of Batman right? This collection showed me that Judge Dredd is definitely a legitimate character and he’s very well written. He definitely shares some traits with Batman, but his heavy usage of the classic handgun is already one big difference. This is a great way to become a fan of the character and get started on the franchise!
This collection brings together dozens and dozens of Judge Dredd issues. Maybe even 100+! This is because most of the Judge Dredd comics were only 2-4 pages back in the day so the adventures were very quick. As you go deeper and deeper into the book, you can see how the issues started to get longer and longer. One thing is for certain, continuity was always important to the series. Past issues are constantly references and no character development is lost. These issues are very tightly connected so it makes for a great read in this collection form.
The setting for the story is that everything is taking place in the future. The Earth has been reduced to three cities and Judge Dredd is stationed on Mega City 1. There are 800 million civilians living there and most (if not all) of them are criminals. Luckily, the city is kept safe by an organization of judges who fight to keep the peace. They have been granted virtually unlimited power to deal with criminals and Judge Dredd is known as the best of the best. This reputation is well deserved as Judge Dredd continues to prove why he is the best throughout the collection.
The first big arc in my opinion is the one about Call Me Kenneth. He is a robot who breaks free from the current robot code that no robot may hurt a man and they must obey humans no matter what. The humans are pretty smug about this and they love to tell the robot to blow themselves up or melt themselves. Call Me Kenneth won’t have any of that and he quickly frees many other robots from this code. It becomes a full scale war between the Judges and the Robots as things escalate quickly. The battle is no joke as thousands of civilians perish and over 100 Judges as well. It’s safe to say that this was the toughest battle that Judge Dredd and the other heroes had to face. I was also surprised at how many casualties were involved and they don’t lessen as the comics continue. The villains definitely aren’t playing around here.
Call Me Kenneth is a pretty good villain and one can mildly sympathize with him. You can’t really sympathize with his actions by the end, but he does have a point that robots should have freedom. Very few do and most of them are essentially treated like slaves. Unfortunately, Call Me Kenneth goes too far when he enslaves his own robots as well. It basically makes the whole thing pointless if you think about it. So, that really hurt his character development and he wasn’t quite as likable after that. I do like his design though and he made for a powerful enemy.
Another reoccurring villain is Whitey. He’s the very first villain to appear in the collection and he takes out a Judge with ease. Judge Dredd makes short work out of him, but Whitey got his 5 seconds of fame. He later appears again when he breaks out of jail, but it’s a very short escape since Judge Dredd is always on the job. (The man doesn’t even take Christmas breaks!) He was a pretty interesting villain since he stands for the one shot villain who one would expect to never appear again, but he didn’t stay down for the count. I also find the name to be a little humorous and I may have him battle on this site’s fight section soon.
Judge Dredd is a great main character and he’s much better than I could have guessed. He does destroy many of his foes, but this is typically by accident. Usually, he shoots his enemies, but he doesn’t aim at any of their vitals so they get to limp off with dignity as they’re sent into prison. He’s as serious about crime as Chase is from Transformers Rescuebots and I’ll admit that I read all of his lines in that voice. Judge Dredd is portrayed as an expert in the collection and that never really fades. Throughout all of the adventures, he’s only defeated a handful of times. He typically defeats his opponents with ease or with a pretty great plan at the ready.
Judge Dredd’s passion for the law is a great advantage to have over the common miscreants, but it can also be a dangerous weakness. An example of this is when he allows a few criminals to run amok because he had to wait for a new badge. Knowing that it is illegal for an average citizen to take the law into his own hands, Judge Dredd had to wait until he was reinstated. He also quit when the other Judges would not deactivate the various robots. They were too confident that they would never turn evil…right before the war started. Judge Dredd’s punishments for crime are pretty serious as he fines someone over 200000 credits just for stepping on the curb. It is a crime though so you are supposed to do the time…
Judge Dredd may have one other weakness and that’s his selection of friends. He’s a Judge so he’s as emotional as stone, but he did allow a few to get close to him. One was his best friend at the academy, but I forgot his name. Unfortunately, the friend became corrupted and he started to murder people while disguised as a mutant. Dredd was forced to destroy him and strike his name from the school’s honor roll. Deja Vu occurred when Dredd’s cloned twin arrived and Dredd quickly mowed him down as well. Luckily, Dredd did make one really good friend although he’ll never admit it.
Walter is Judge Dredd’s best friend and it means a lot to the robot. Walter is the only robot who has been granted freedom I believe, but he doesn’t care for it. He just wants to be with Dredd and he even gives him presents at Christmas. Walter definitely gives the Judge a lot of trouble since he’s certainly not one of the stronger robots out there, but he gets the job done. Without Walter, Judge Dredd’s social life would truly be nonexistent. He does have a cleaning lady who is around to help from time to time, but her role is incredibly small and she’s basically written out of the series once Walter appears.
Half of the collection is spent on Mega City 1, but the scenery changes when Dredd is assigned to the Moon. It makes for an interesting change of pace. I definitely prefer Mega City 1, but Judge Dredd’s new uniform is pretty cool. It’s also good to see him slap the local authorities into shape as he began to uphold the law once again. The Moon Saga had many plots including illegal super races and an evil Santa Clause.
Once Judge Dredd made it back to Earth, he had to deal with the ultimate car…Elvis! Elvis manages to snap away from his coding when it got damaged and he quickly went the Call Me Kenneth route as he woke up many other cars to the realization that destroying humans was fun. The Judges now had to deal with another war, but this one was likely not as lethal to the local civilians. Elvis isn’t quite as smart as Call Me Kenneth, but he does get the jump on Judge Dredd when he invades the latter’s home. He uses this as a shield against the authority and it’s a pretty bold plan. Can the authorities put him in his place?
The art for the collection is in black and white as per the norm, but it definitely works very well for this series. Everything is pretty clear so you can tell what is going on and the only characters who can appear to be very similar at times are the judges. I don’t care for the book’s actual binding because there were a few times where it was impossible to make out a few words because they were exactly in the middle of the collection. You can always tell more or less what the characters are saying because it’s only a few words, but the words shouldn’t be so crunched up together.
The dialogue is one of the strong points in this collection. Just about every line from Judge Dredd tends to be pretty epic. He’s really focused on making sure that everyone acts in accordance with the law and it’s cool to hear the various laws of the future. The villains are also ready with old slang and new terms to combat the Judges verbally. It’s a good way to stall for time I suppose.
Overall, This was a pretty great start to the franchise. I can certainly see why Judge Dredd has a lot of fans and I can safely say that he’s a lot more likable than Robocop. Mega City 1 is certainly a rough place since there’s always someone out to get Judge Dredd, but that’s what makes the issues so interesting. The universe is built pretty well as there are already many plots that can be explored in the future. The other two Mega Cities, The mutants underground, the whole robots issue, etc. The cast is relatively small as well, but the main heroes are both likable. Walter grows on you as the issues go and you almost feel bad for him. (Maybe not always…) I hope that Call Me Kenneth and Whitey return soon since that would make for a fun rematch. I highly recommend this collection to any comic fan and it really has no weaknesses. You can finally meet one of the bigger comic book characters and find out what true justice is!
Overall 8/10
Original image by nootherthanme and the link to it is below.
http://nootherthanme.deviantart.com/art/robocop-vs-judge-dredd-347273244
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