2012 was the year The Avengers came out. Comic book adaptations were at peak popularity but beyond Marvel there wasn't much else out there cashing in on this.
Except for Dredd, the little comic book adaptation that could, sort of.
2012 was the year The Avengers came out. Comic book adaptations were at peak popularity but beyond Marvel there wasn't much else out there cashing in on this.
Except for Dredd, the little comic book adaptation that could, sort of.
My History / Dredd-ging up the past
You can refer to the My History section of my Dark Knight triangle for a brief rundown of my history with comic books in general.
Given that, it's no real surprise that Judge Dredd passed me by as a comic phenomenon. I also didn't notice the 90s film at the time or even this film when it came out.
It can't be easy being a non-Marvel, non-DC comics property vying for attention...
So yeah, this was another random recommendation I got and an attempt to patch up the holes in my comic book films lore.
Plot summary / The Future didn't go exactly as planned...
The earth, or at least the United States, are an irradiated wasteland. What's left of humanity lives in Megacities, with Mega-City One covering a lot of the east coast.
Mega-City One has a huge crime problem (the others probably do too), in response the government has resorted to 'expanding' the roles of police officers to turn them into Judges. Feared enforcers of the law, heavily armed, heavily armoured and basically uncaring about anything other than the law.
That's all the world-building you'll get as a viewer, I'm sure there's more to dig into the in the expanded Dredd-iverse, but if the film can't be bothered then neither can I. So it swiftly rolls on to introduce us to the titular Judge Dredd, apparently a badass among badasses. This is going to be a power fantasy alright.
Dredd is tasked with evaluating a rookie that failed her Judge aptitude test, she is given this extra chance because she's a psychic, one of several types of mutant born to this post-apocalyptic world, and could therefore be an asset to the Judges, as long as Dredd signs off on her aptitude.
So out they roll on patrol, on fancy sci-fi motorcycles, heading off to a 200-floor tower block where a triple murder was reported (as in, three murders. There's no weird sci-fi thing where a character can die multiple times). Of course the first stop of their patrol, and Anderson's assessment, immediately turns out to be more than they were expecting.
Shooting up a den of criminals wasn't the issue, the issue was the entire building going on lockdown as they tried to leave with their arrest and the local crimelord putting a huge bounty on their head.
The rest of the film is an intense series of shootouts as the three of them try to get out of the sarcastically named Peach Trees tower block.
Corner 1: Adventure 7.5/10 / "So why do you want to be a Judge?"
There is no quest, no change of scenery. It's two ~cops trying to get out of a volatile situation. Somehow it still feels like an adventure though.
- 🚀 The rookie and the grizzled veteran learn from each other. It's tropey, but there's a reason it's a trope.
- 🚀 Developments in the plot keep you on your toes, even if they aren't very creative.
- 📋 Peach Trees is one of the most boring, drab depressing settings I've seen in a long time.
- 🚀 The rookie and the grizzled veteran learn from each other. It's tropey, but there's a reason it's a trope.
- 🚀 Developments in the plot keep you on your toes, even if they aren't very creative.
- 📋 Peach Trees is one of the most boring, drab depressing settings I've seen in a long time.
Corner 2: Smart 4/10 / "They're not dead till we find them dead."
A simple plot, no huge upheavals, only very simple societal criticisms in the setting, yeah this isn't going to score very high. It didn't really need to be cleverer though.
- 💡 Contextual worldbuilding is nicely executed, even if the world is horrible.
- 💡 A pleasantly pragmatic villain.
- 💡 I was fully expecting a scene where Dredd was almost defeated where he takes his helmet off and is humanised a bit. He gets almost defeated several times, but the helmet stays on.
- 💤 It's hard to think of a single problem in the film that isn't solved by violence.
- 💤 It feels SUPER weird to have an authoritarian regime that isn't the enemy. Let's have a quick Aside about that after the triangle, I've got more thoughts about that than a bullet point can hold.
A simple plot, no huge upheavals, only very simple societal criticisms in the setting, yeah this isn't going to score very high. It didn't really need to be cleverer though.
- 💡 Contextual worldbuilding is nicely executed, even if the world is horrible.
- 💡 A pleasantly pragmatic villain.
- 💡 I was fully expecting a scene where Dredd was almost defeated where he takes his helmet off and is humanised a bit. He gets almost defeated several times, but the helmet stays on.
- 💤 It's hard to think of a single problem in the film that isn't solved by violence.
- 💤 It feels SUPER weird to have an authoritarian regime that isn't the enemy. Let's have a quick Aside about that after the triangle, I've got more thoughts about that than a bullet point can hold.
Corner 3: Heart 5/10 / "You're a piece of work, Dredd."
- 💔 No awe-inspiring moments, the closest we get are high opacity slow motion gun fights.
- 💔 Surprisingly forgettable soundtrack. It's a good fit for the visuals, but a memorable theme would have been nice.
- 💔 Not really any likeable characters, not even the rookie and she is the most human (even though she is the least human).
- 💔 The world is a dark, grimy place. And that's before the tower block goes into lockdown and all exterior windows are closed.
- 💖 And yet, somehow, there is something admirable about the unapologetically ugly world it portrays. I'd probably grow to resent it in a longer format, but it doesn't outstay its welcome.
I'm not expecting much of this triangle, but in the end I am glad that I watched it.
Yeah that's roughly what I was expecting. The score should be okay...
- 💔 No awe-inspiring moments, the closest we get are high opacity slow motion gun fights.
- 💔 Surprisingly forgettable soundtrack. It's a good fit for the visuals, but a memorable theme would have been nice.
- 💔 Not really any likeable characters, not even the rookie and she is the most human (even though she is the least human).
- 💔 The world is a dark, grimy place. And that's before the tower block goes into lockdown and all exterior windows are closed.
- 💖 And yet, somehow, there is something admirable about the unapologetically ugly world it portrays. I'd probably grow to resent it in a longer format, but it doesn't outstay its welcome.
I'm not expecting much of this triangle, but in the end I am glad that I watched it.
37.89
Sounds about right, let's keep this triangle train rolling.
Next up is a film that is also about people just trying to get back to safety.
Aside / Wait, they're NOT the baddies?
I just can't get over this. Mega-City One is ruled with an iron fist, Judges roam the streets dispensing lethal justice left and right, and we're supposed to accept this status quo and root for these judges?
They're better trained, better equipped and have a thorough support structure.
In a 'normal' story these are the villains, with plucky underdogs trying to overthrow the overzealous authority. It might start the protagonist(s) off alongside the enforcers, like in the film Equilibrium or the (justifiably) lost to time videogame Haze, but before long they'll be facing them alongside what is usually a far less organised and more racially diverse group of resistance fighters.
Sure, Dredd has a development where 4 corrupt Judges are hired to take out our two heroes, but this is presented as business as usual, not as criticism of the system.
It's as if we'd get a Star Wars film where we're following a squad of imperial spies trying to stop a Hutt scheme or something. Sure, nobody wants the Hutts to win, but it's still the Empire that comes out on top in the end.
I'm all for breaking and subverting conventions, but here it felt very weird, especially because it was never really addressed or commented upon.
Next up is a film that is also about people just trying to get back to safety.
Aside / Wait, they're NOT the baddies?
I just can't get over this. Mega-City One is ruled with an iron fist, Judges roam the streets dispensing lethal justice left and right, and we're supposed to accept this status quo and root for these judges?They're better trained, better equipped and have a thorough support structure.
In a 'normal' story these are the villains, with plucky underdogs trying to overthrow the overzealous authority. It might start the protagonist(s) off alongside the enforcers, like in the film Equilibrium or the (justifiably) lost to time videogame Haze, but before long they'll be facing them alongside what is usually a far less organised and more racially diverse group of resistance fighters.
Sure, Dredd has a development where 4 corrupt Judges are hired to take out our two heroes, but this is presented as business as usual, not as criticism of the system.
It's as if we'd get a Star Wars film where we're following a squad of imperial spies trying to stop a Hutt scheme or something. Sure, nobody wants the Hutts to win, but it's still the Empire that comes out on top in the end.
I'm all for breaking and subverting conventions, but here it felt very weird, especially because it was never really addressed or commented upon.
Comments
Post a Comment