Dredd
Dir: Pete Travis
2012
***
The slow motion photography was absolutely stunning but I'm not sure it really worked within the story or style of Dredd. Dredd was my first love when it came to comics. The early 90's was all about 2000AD for me and I became obsessed with Dredd and to be honest, I had low expectations for the film. So many great stories to choose from and they went with this? It's not terrible but it's not great, I really hope that this is just an introductory thing and that they will make a few more based on classic story-lines. I would never expect Hollywood to understand what Dredd was really about, it's satire, dark humor, social comment etc but I also didn't expect the level of violence and gore. I thought Karl Urban was great though and I'm glad he kept the helmet on throughout. I thought Olivia Thirlby made a good Anderson and Lena Headey was great as Ma-Ma. Personally I want to see the likes of Judge Death and Judge Fish, Otto Sump, Father Earth, Don Uggie Apelino.... the list goes on. I just don't know if they could ever appear in this relatively grown-up version in the future. Although, I can't tell you how trilled I was when I saw the Chopper graffiti, he was one of my favourite characters and I'd love to see him in the next film. I want another film, I just want to see more of the comic Dredd. Also, the bikes looked rubbish and Mega City One didn't look futuristic enough but this can (and should) be fixed. Where was the giant Judge statue? Where were the White Cliffs of Dover? We hard-core fans need a little more please!