Dredd 3D review

Really wanted to see this when it hit the theater's earlier last year, but here in Sweden it just came and went after a very short while so I missed it.

Anyway, I really liked this movie. It's a low budget small scale attempt compared to the Sylvester Stallone movie (which I think is plain bad and silly). This one is a lot more gritty and suitably violent. The characters are also a lot better, the story is simpler but fits the direction of the movie very well.

Judge Dredd is a badass cop in a dystopian future where the US east coast is just one giant city. He patrols the streets delivering sentencing on the spot - the movie explains that death sentences are fairly rare despite the totalitarian methods used by the judges. When the movie starts Dredd is assigned a new rookie cop, a young female with telekinetic powers allowing her to read minds. Since the police force have not used "mutants" before she is assigned to Dredd since he is the "best cop" in the force. The two of them go off to respond to a 911 call in a huge skyscraper.

Upon arrival it soon becomes apparent that the building is run by a crazy crime queen and Dredd and the rookie cop Anderson have to fight their way through the building from the bottom level to the top penthouse. People will compare it to "The Raid redemption" which takes place in a similar locale and has a similar setup - but which I think is a completely different movie with emphasis on martial arts fighting, whereas Dredd is all about the guns and explosions.

Dredd 3D has a dead simple setup and story, but it works for a couple of reasons, those being:

Dredd and the rookie cop, Anderson, have great "rookie-mentor" chemistry.

Anderson despite being a "female character" is not just depicted as a walking set of boobs, but actually contributes and helps out. She is also written to be quite likeable, and when she kicks ass she does so in a believable fashion without suddenly going out of character and being over the top "macho woman" (a caricature often portrayed by the actresses Michelle Rodriduez in crap movies).

Karl Urban, despite making me almost burst out in laughter because of his constant frown, is really good as Dredd. I think he wanted to play the role a bit like Stallone did with the frown.

The uniforms don't look like plastic shit with giant gold chains and huge shoulder pads, instead they look  like actual body armor that cops and military personal might use.

The action is aimed at a mature audience, you have some really violent scenes depicted in a realistic way. This is not a cartoony, goofy action, self conscious flick like the Expendables.

And finally, this movie has a fantastic soundtrack.

All in all a very good action movie.

7.5/10