There are many, many beautiful things about this film. I'll bullet-point the rest in a minute; the most beautiful of the lot is that it does not patronise YOU.
It's an honest and brilliant adaptation of the 2000AD character and the brutal near-future world he inhabits.
However, YOU do not need to be a fanboy. YOU do not need to be versed in the narrative of Mega-city One.
WE are almost there - the opening vista of the terrible futuristic sprawl and the soulless characters running wild within it will resonate with everyone.
35 years ago Dredd was science-fiction, set in 2020. Today, chillingly, Dredd seems the natural progression of justice and society.
Enough grimness. Back to the beauty: * - the 3D. Incredible use of what I previously considered at best a gimmick, at worst an unnecessary irritant. Its deployment is breathtaking and integrates seamlessly with the action.
* - the timing of the action (indeed the length of the film entire): Never too long, never monotonous, always carrying an edge and brimming with tension. Superbly implemented, edited and produced.
* - Dredd and Anderson/Urban and Thrilby: they absolutely nailed their characters. Urban's Dredd IS Judge Dredd; a fine line between Neitzsche's ubermensch and dystopian fascism embodied. Yet he is ultimately human here, too; and also something else - hinted at by Anderson in the opening scenes. And Thrilby looks so much like the vulnerable, but deadly beauty Judge Anderson I remember from the original artwork it's as if she was designed for the part.
35 years ago a disgruntled, bored kid was bought the second edition of 2000AD magazine because there was a free 'space spinner' frisbee on the front.
The first episode of Judge Dredd was inside, lurking, waiting to captivate and enthrall with its bewildering anti-hero. Often, the reader was transported through realms of science fiction beyond the dystopian grandeur of earthly mega-cities - across space, into the horror of inter-dimensional entities, parallel universes; Dredd's world expanded to encompass mind-expanding ideas and adventures.
They channelled it all via this unyielding, monolithic, mysterious character. Therein lay the irony; Not for them the gaudy, please-all whackos of Marvel/DC comics.
Dredd is everyman. Dredd is superman. This film is the perfect introduction.
NOTE: Robocop referers - Dredd came FIRST. Robocop was Verhoven's take on Dredd. Robocop's character, his lines - all sourced from the Dredd character of 2000AD. Get it right. The Beatles did not borrow from Justin Beiber....
NOTE: The soundtrack; clublike, adrenalin-manipulating. Sounds and feels superb; reminds me of Fight Club (as did much of the cinematography overall).
Go and see it. It works on all levels.
If no grander, bigger-budget sequel is forthcoming, sci-fi is dead; It will have been judged.
It's an honest and brilliant adaptation of the 2000AD character and the brutal near-future world he inhabits.
However, YOU do not need to be a fanboy. YOU do not need to be versed in the narrative of Mega-city One.
WE are almost there - the opening vista of the terrible futuristic sprawl and the soulless characters running wild within it will resonate with everyone.
35 years ago Dredd was science-fiction, set in 2020. Today, chillingly, Dredd seems the natural progression of justice and society.
Enough grimness. Back to the beauty: * - the 3D. Incredible use of what I previously considered at best a gimmick, at worst an unnecessary irritant. Its deployment is breathtaking and integrates seamlessly with the action.
* - the timing of the action (indeed the length of the film entire): Never too long, never monotonous, always carrying an edge and brimming with tension. Superbly implemented, edited and produced.
* - Dredd and Anderson/Urban and Thrilby: they absolutely nailed their characters. Urban's Dredd IS Judge Dredd; a fine line between Neitzsche's ubermensch and dystopian fascism embodied. Yet he is ultimately human here, too; and also something else - hinted at by Anderson in the opening scenes. And Thrilby looks so much like the vulnerable, but deadly beauty Judge Anderson I remember from the original artwork it's as if she was designed for the part.
35 years ago a disgruntled, bored kid was bought the second edition of 2000AD magazine because there was a free 'space spinner' frisbee on the front.
The first episode of Judge Dredd was inside, lurking, waiting to captivate and enthrall with its bewildering anti-hero. Often, the reader was transported through realms of science fiction beyond the dystopian grandeur of earthly mega-cities - across space, into the horror of inter-dimensional entities, parallel universes; Dredd's world expanded to encompass mind-expanding ideas and adventures.
They channelled it all via this unyielding, monolithic, mysterious character. Therein lay the irony; Not for them the gaudy, please-all whackos of Marvel/DC comics.
Dredd is everyman. Dredd is superman. This film is the perfect introduction.
NOTE: Robocop referers - Dredd came FIRST. Robocop was Verhoven's take on Dredd. Robocop's character, his lines - all sourced from the Dredd character of 2000AD. Get it right. The Beatles did not borrow from Justin Beiber....
NOTE: The soundtrack; clublike, adrenalin-manipulating. Sounds and feels superb; reminds me of Fight Club (as did much of the cinematography overall).
Go and see it. It works on all levels.
If no grander, bigger-budget sequel is forthcoming, sci-fi is dead; It will have been judged.