It’s
strange to think how rarely an 18 rated straight-up action film is released in
cinemas today. Over the past couple of decades, other genres have continued to
push controversial boundaries (especially comedy, which I’m sure has just reached
a kind of delirious zenith with Ted),
while the sweaty days of macho yore have been largely sent straight-to-video or
simply neutered for the “benefit” of a wider audience. But I can’t be the only
one who’s noticed a slow resuscitation of traditional action cinema in recent
years. I’m telling you, Stallone got a rather masculine ball rolling in 2008
with Rambo. Progress since then has
been slow but steady... and now, based on the classic 2000 AD character, here’s the latest glimmer of hope: Dredd 3D.
Judge
Dredd (Karl Urban) patrols the decadent streets of Mega-City One – a metropolis
located within post-apocalyptic America: the Cursed Earth. Something of a
legend, Dredd’s latest assignment sees him evaluating the rookie Judge Anderson
(Olivia Thirlby), a “mutant” gifted with psychic powers. Meanwhile, a new
narcotic that drastically alters the user’s perception of time is taking the
city by storm. Called Slo-Mo, it’s controlled by the ruthless drug lord Ma-Ma
(Lena Headey), who operates from the top floor of Peach Trees, a 200-storey
high tower block. Dredd and Anderson arrive at Peach Trees to investigate a multiple
homicide, where they soon incur the wrath of Ma-Ma, who locks down the tower,
trapping the two Judges inside with an army of her followers. With nowhere to
go but up, Dredd takes the fight to them, exerting his power as judge, jury and
executioner.
Now,
I thought Expendables 2 was old
school, but Dredd is positively
archaic. Alex Garland’s screenplay doesn’t mess around. This is a solid 90
minutes of back to basics ultra violence administered by a stomping protagonist
ripped straight from another era of cinema. Playing the role in suitably
deadpan fashion, Karl Urban demonstrates what might happen if Harry Callahan
made a baby with Robocop – a frightening mental image in itself, but there you
go. Once on, Dredd’s helmet never comes off... and I have never before seen a chin give the kind of performance that Urban’s
grizzled jaw line pulls off. It’s... almost hypnotic in its grumpiness...
Yes,
Joe Dredd is not a nice man. In fact he lets his Lawgiver do most of the
talking. Utilising voice recognition, Dredd’s primary weapon packs semi and
fully-automatic firing modes, armour piercing bullets, along with incendiary
and high-explosive rounds for those extra messy opportunities. And all are used with invariably graphic
results. It can’t be stated clearly enough: Dredd
is a brutal piece of work that often
reaches levels of intense sadism,
especially when Slo-Mo comes into play. During an early drug bust, Dredd and
Anderson breach a room filled with intoxicated thugs and promptly reduce most
of them to taco meat. One bullet goes through a man’s face and his cheek
EXPLODES. SLOWLY. In 3D! Not pretty at all, but this is what you’re in for. My own psychic abilities might not be fully developed, yet I
can foresee more sensitive viewers walking out of this one.
Extreme
as it can (and does) become, there’s more to Dredd than billowing, ruptured flesh (I swear). Keeping me hooked was the veteran-rookie dynamic between
Dredd and Anderson. It gives this otherwise mean spirited picture a heart of
sorts. I was worried that Thirlby would be an anchor weighing Urban down, but
instead the way her relative inexperience clashes with Dredd’s grouchy
expertise make for some of the film’s absolute best moments. It’s not long
before Dredd starts feeling like a
futuristic cross between Die Hard and
The Enforcer (you know, that Dirty Harry sequel with the hippy
terrorists). And while it’s not exactly a Buddy Cop relationship, the brief
moments of wry humour they do generate together is what stops an already bleak
tale from becoming almost unbearably grim.
I
haven’t watched Game of Thrones
(sorry) or Terminator: The Sarah Connor
Chronicles (sorry!). In fact I
haven’t seen much of Lena Headey at all, but after witnessing her scary turn here
as Ma-Ma, I might have to rectify that. Her character is an interesting one –
largely downplayed, but deeply unnerving. It’s all in the way she calmly has
three insubordinate drug pushers skinned and thrown from the tower block’s top
floor to a splattery death – all while they’re forced under the influence of
Slo-Mo. So she means business, and makes for a suitably dangerous antagonist.
Whatever
complaints I may have don’t amount to much. Occasions arose when Slo-Mo scenes
come close to bordering on the art house fluff side of style, but they were mostly
kept to the first act. Elsewhere, there was one secondary antagonist whose fate
came off as disappointingly abrupt, while a little voice at the back of my head
began to question if the violence was a getting bit too nasty. It shut up pretty quick.
To
my great surprise, I don’t even have many bad things to type about the
additional dimension Dredd subjected
me to. I know it’ll sadly be a headache-inducing nightmare for some, but the
extra depth was used appropriately and added some flair to the more
visually arresting moments, whether it’s the aforementioned exploding cheek,
floating bath bubbles mixed with a cascade of water or just a massive close-up
of someone’s eyelash. Fancy stuff.
Ultimately,
Dredd is just another day at the
office for the almighty chinned law enforcer. The decision to focus on one
isolated incident is what gives it the focus and energy it needs to rise far
above its modest budget. Sequels have already been touted, depending on
agreeable box office results, with early plans to explore the Cursed Earth and
whatever horrors it contains, while a potential trilogy capper might bring in
the undead Dark Judges and their plague of zombie terror. While that sounds
great and would in all probability be
great, I do hope this maybe-series doesn’t pull a Chronicles of Riddick by doing too much all at once and seemingly
forget what made it work in the first place.
But
say Dredd doesn’t do the necessary
business and those plans are scrapped. Thanks to its purely rugged
entertainment value, we’ll still have one hell of a stand-alone adaptation that,
while not suited to more delicate tastes, should easily satisfy 2000 AD fans (despite the lack of drokks
and greenies), action connoisseurs looking for a bloody good time (emphasis on
the bloody) and anyone who wants to
forget all about the Stallone original...
...
which we all know is totally underrated.
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