Judge Dredd

Judging by the trailers for the film, as well as the huge disappointment left by its 1995 predecessor, I wouldn’t blame you if you simply dismissed the newest iteration of Judge Dredd as a forgettable, generic action feature, or simply a disposable reboot. When hearing about this movie, after being informed of the atrocity that came before it seventeen years prior, I was one of these individuals who fell into this category. Hearing of the praise this film has received however, convinced me to give the world of Judge Dredd a try. I ended up, however, being very surprised after watching this film, and I am happy to say that Dredd is a very well-crafted action picture, and serves as a reboot to not only make fans new and old happy, but was also
To combat the changing landscape, America choosing to create “mega-cities” as an attempt to keep society alive. In this space, a group of super-cops, affectionately named "Judges", guard the streets of the post-apocalyptic East Coast, effectively serving as judge, jury, and executioner for criminals whom they convict on the spot. This extremely drastic change to the legal system is implemented in order to combat the ever-present waves of crime committed in the overcrowded, impoverished super city of Mega-City One. One of these judges, Judge Dredd (Karl Urban), is testing a new recruit who came from the slums of Mega-City One, Judge Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby). Anderson in particular, is unique compared to other Judges due to her possession of psychic powers, which was caused by a genetic mutation. They choose to investigate a crime in the 200 story flat called “Peach Trees” when the self-appointed ruler of the complex - a drug lord named Ma-Ma (Lena Headey) - locks down the building and demands the death of the Judges for arresting one of her men. Dredd and Anderson must fight their way through multitudes of henchmen and give Ma-Ma her judgment. Dredd takes its cues from many great action screenplays of the past, combining the typical wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time, one-man-army premise of
While the successor to the 1995 so-bad-it’s-good film definitely has some flaws, this film has finally chosen to embrace the source material of the Judge Dredd comics. 2012's Dredd finally gets it right, choosing to focus on the comic's themes of poverty and facism. The unforgiving wasteland of Mega-City One and the Peach Trees mega-complex serve to further these themes, as they completely drown their inhabitants with an ever-present sense of fear and oppression. On the other hand, the Judges, the supposed “heroes” of this world are ruthless, unmerciful and unremorseful, convicting and killing with a lack of emotion that almost remind me of fascist police forces such as the Gestapo. Not only that, but these “heroes” are also as prone to corruption as the very citizens whom the serve. While many of these darker themes and ideals were likely considered inappropriate for ‘95, they are now extremely relevant and thought-provoking within today’s world. Dredd’s brilliant production design also serves to further these themes, and to create a believable atmosphere in which they