Hi All,

I'm just back from viewing Dredd.  It seems surreal to say that I enjoyed the movie since there was nothing in it that anyone should really well, enjoy.

Dredd is set in the dytopian future of the American Eastern Seaboard where urban sprawl has paved over all land from Boston, Mass to Washington DC and swallowed everything in between.  Mega-City One is surrounded by a wall which separates it from "The Cursed Earth" with is an irradiated wasteland as a result of a nuclear saturation strike.

The population of Mega-City One is pegged (for the movie) at 80 million individuals.  Many of whom live in vast skyscrapers called Blocks which can house up to 50, 000 people on 200 levels.  Space is cramped almost everywhere.

Democracy no longer exists.  Chief Judge Hershey rules the Mega-City and the law is enforced by Judges.  These Judges are also police officers and they render on the spot judgement up to and including execution.  Mega-City one is a facist city state.

Judge Jospeh Dredd (goes only by Dredd) is one of the most feared of the Judges and for the sake of the movie he is paired with a rookie Judge who has marginally failed her studies because Chief Judge Hershey thinks that as borderline as rookie Judge Anderson may be her psi skills might be useful in bringing the city under control.

Any who saw Stallone's Judge Dredd are in for a shock.  There are no laughs in this movie.  No Rob Shneider comedic sidekicks cracking wise and no "look at me" displays of bravado or machismo.  Dredd is brutal.

Karl Urban (Bones in the Star Trek reimagining of a few years ago) is Judge Dredd and he captures the character well.  Unlike Stallone who believes his face is too pretty to be covered by a Judge's helmet Urban refused to take the role if his face was ever to be shown.  Which means all he has to communicate with is body language, voice and his mouth.  He rose to the challenge and delivered.

Olivia Thirlby is rookie Judge Anderson who has a psychic mutation which allows her to read the thoughts of individuals around her.  Quite the interogation tool if you are a Judge and you have a suspect who is unco-operative.  Thirlby plays Anderson almost as wide-eyed innocent, not ever naive but almost always initially overwhelmed by the dirtiness of Mega-City One and its criminal element.  She is a fast learner and rebounds quickly regaining her composure but never fast enough to escape the notice of Dredd who is assessing her potential to be a Judge.

Lena Hedey is the primary villain in the movie.  Madeline Madrigal, known on the streets as Ma-Ma leader of the Ma-Ma clan is a former prostitute turned drug lord.  She is a wicked.  In the dictionary sense of the word.  Violent, sadistic, butcher are other words which jump readily to mind.

Other than that the cast is very lacking in movie exposure.  Which can be a very good thing from time to time and this time it was.

Dredd is uber capable, a master tactician with an unswerving dedication to the law.  He is cold and callous as blind justice herself.  In the opening scene when he is chasing down a van full of druggies hopped up on slo-mo (a powerful narcotic which enables the brain to experience the passage of time at a much slower rate than is typical--imagine if you were able to actually notice a hummingbird flap its wings without special cameras) he witnesses the van run down a pedestrian.  He swerves to avoid the body but there is no thought of slowing down.  He doesn't call into dispatch for an ambulance.  He does call in to note that the perps have killed an innocent and he is about to exercise violent force and send a meat wagon and a recyc crew.  Meat Wagon is paddy wagon.  It is for perps that are judged and don't get executed.  The recyc crew is to clean up the dead bodies and harvest the organs for transplantation should anybody need them and in Mega-City One that need it very high.

In our world hi-speed pursuits which put the public safety at risk are called off.  Judges do not back off so a violent takedown of the speeding vehicle kills two of the perps (as accessories to murder they were going to get a minimum of life imprisonment in iso-cubes--so they might be better off dead).  The third goes on a murder spree eventually taking a hostage.

Dredd as Judge brings a verdict of guilty the only thing remaining is to determine which charge.  Let the hostage go and it is life in an iso-cube.  The perp demands that he be let go or the hostage dies.  Dredd points out that this isn't a negotiation.  The perp gets a little more agitated, threatens the hostage one more time and judgment is immediate and the execution grisly.

That is how it is in Mega-City One.  The Judge who has pursued you has all the evidence he needs to convict and sentance.  There is no plea bargaining, there are no extenuating circumstances, justice yields to nothing.  The hostage, now out of harms way but still rather overwhelmed by the last 30 seconds of her day thanks the Judge.  With no perp in sight she is beyond Dredd's notice.  He calls into dispatch, notes the judgment and is clear to respond to any new crisis.

Three grisly homocides in Peach Trees Block (despite the name there is nothing remotely pleasant about this location.  Bring Dredd and Anderson into contact with Kay a lieutenant in the Ma-Ma clan and it is Anderson's Psi-ability that picks up on the fact that Kay is responsible for the murders.  "How certain?" asks Dredd.  "99%" responds Anderson.  "Not enough for a judgment" says Dredd but hey, some interrogation down at the Hall of Justice might supply the missing 1%.  So Kay is arrested.  Now all they have to do is get out of Peach Trees.

Ma-Ma is not about to let that happen and Peach Trees goes on lockdown.  Over the intercom Ma-Ma tells the citizens of Peach Trees to not come between her clan and the judges and anybody who renders any aid to the Judges will be killed but not before they watch her kill their next generation.

And it is fight on.

No holds barred fight on.

Neither Dredd nor Anderson will kill innocents.  Ma-Ma?  She doesn't give a damn.  She wants the judges dead and as a criminal kingpin she has enough firepower in Peach Trees to get what she wants.

Dredd quickly realizes that Kay, as a murder simply isn't worth the effort that Ma-Ma is putting into preventing the Judges from taking him in to be interrogated so he starts the interrogation while they are still stranded in Peach Trees.  Judges in Mega-City One have quite a bit of leeway when it comes to interrogation.  Watching Dredd interrogate you get the impression that he has done it on more than one occasion and that he probably gets information with little effort.

Kay, is obviously more frightened of Ma-Ma than he is of any Judge and it is just as obvious that Dredd is going to have to spend a long time interrogating to get anything useful out of him.  So Anderson steps forward claiming that she can get the information out of him using interogation techniques unique to he psi ability.

Kay, likes to play head games and this is quite a challenge for the rookie Judge.  This is where we get to see that Anderson, who appears to be too squeamish and hesitant to be a judge (though her tactical reasoning is sound and her knowledge of the law is flawless) is probably less afraid of the world around her than she is of herself.

Dredd is physically punishing as an interogator.  Kay can eat what Dredd dishes out. Anderson psychically takes Kay apart manipulating his mind as she sifts through his memory.  Dredd as Judge might make Kay tremble, Anderson makes him wet his pants.  The truth comes out though.  Somewhere in Peach Trees is a drug lab and Ma-Ma is cooking up enough slo-mo to supply the whole Mega-City.

Which means that not only do they have to take Kay in, they have to arrest Ma-Ma (remember, the Law doesn't back off).

Two kids jump Dredd and Anderson looking for a reward from Ma-Ma and it is here that we see Dredd is not just a ruthless law enforcing engine of destruction.  He enters into discussion with the two teens attempting to get them to back away from the full weight of the law.  Point a gun at a judge?  Threaten a judge?  That is hard-time and yet Dredd doesn't even mention judgment.  The two continue to posture.  Kay, seeking an opportunity to escape, jumps a distracted Anderson and his motion startles the teens into opening fire.  Dredd uses non-lethal rounds to take down the two teens and cuff them but in the time that takes kay has escaped and Anderson has been captured.

More very graphic hunt and chase.  All of which going Dredd's way with him running low on ammunition.

So Ma-Ma calls in four corrupt Judges.  The leader of this group.  Judge Lex (those with a knowledge of Latin will immediately appreciate the irony).

If it had not already been established that Judges are bad-ass.  This story arch is going to teach that lesson in spades.  Judge on Judge action is gritty, to say the least.  Dredd is able to kill two Judges before Lex is finally able to take him down.  The dialogue between Lex and Dredd just before Lex finally kills him is powerful.

Unfortunately for Lex we know that Anderson has escaped, killed the Judge sent to dispatch her and is about to open up a clip of rapidfire into his back.  So with Lex out of the way Dredd and Anderson are free to finally arrest Ma-Ma.

One last detail.

Ma-Ma has, in her employ a computer savvy guy who has been over-riding all of the systems in Peach Trees to give Ma-Ma and advantage over Dredd and Anderson and it is very obvious that he is not doing so willingly.  This techie will be familiar to Potter fans as Bill Weasley.  Anderson uses her psi ability to get information from this unnamed techie on how to get into Ma-Ma's stronghold along the way she sees everything Ma-Ma has done and the torture he has been subjected to.  Once she has the information she needs she tells him to get as far away as he can.

"Allowing a perp to get away?"  asks Dredd.  "Judges have the perogative of judgment."  replies a confident Anderson "My judgment is mercy."  Dredd, still assessing the fitness of the rookie judge lets the judgment stand.

The eventual takedown of Ma-Ma is not quite anti-climactic.  It is foregone conclusion.  Also without doubt is Dredd's judgment.  Ma-Ma has been racking up quite a few infractions this afternoon.  What remains to be seen is how that sentance will be carried out.

Ma-Ma who is a vicious peace of work has rigged Peach Trees with enough explosive to reduce it to rubble has wired the detonator with a dead-man switch.  If Dredd, renders a verdict of guilty (he will because he must) then the whole of Peach Trees will be obliterated as soon as Ma-Ma's heart stops beating.  Check-mate Judge?

Hardly.

In order to build a sky scraper 200 stories tall and housing 50 000 people you have to use a lot of concrete and steel reinforcing.  If the detonator were, say 150 levels below the explosives would there be enough concrete and steel to shield a detonation signal?  Beats me.

Apparently Dredd knows the answer and just before he sentances Ma-Ma to death he gives her a hit of slo-mo so that she can live the experience of falling 200 levesl to her death much longer than it will actually take.  And no, the detonator signal cannot penetrate to set of the explosives.

As the battered Judges walk out of Peach Trees Dredd announces that Anderson's assessment is over.  She peels off her shield and hands it to him, walking off without a word and apparently without using her psi ability to be certain of the outcome.

Chief Judge Hershey shows up, not out of any fondness or concern for Dredd or four corrupt Judges but rather because she needs to know if Anderson will be a tool in regaining control of the city.  Dredd declares that Anderson passed and end credits roll.

Dredd is based on a British Comic book called (what else) Judge Dredd.  While the Comic uses black humour to explore the horrors of a police state Dredd avoids any black humour.  There was absolutely no laughter in the theatre at all, anywhere while the movie played.  Even when there was an obvious joke line near the conclusion it couldn't reach even nervous laughter.

Repeatedly Dredd asks Anderson if she is ready through the movie.  The first time she answers that she is ready Dredd candidly states that she doesn't look ready.  The second time that she answers that she is ready Dredd points out that she forgot her helmet (she actually hasn't worn the helmet since they got off of their bikes before entering Peach Trees.  Anderson explains that the helmet interferes with her psi abilities.  Dredd counters that a bullet would probably interfere just as much.  That is black comedy gold.  Very classic Dredd.  Nothing.  I smiled but yeah, a bullet would probably interfere with Anderson's psi abilities.

 Dredd is obviously a hero and very complex yet, all optics are his devotion to the law and his mission of justice.  The only chinks in the armour are his relatively soft takedown of the two teens who get the drop on him and his lack of comment on Anderson rendering a judgment of mercy.  It is only in those moments that we see his devotion to the city is more important than a rigid enforcement of the law.

Which is not to say that those two teens didn't wind up doing time in juvie iso-cubes.  I'd bet on it.  Dredd is only as soft as the law will allow.

Anderson, who is a minor character with some very important story archs in the comic is definitely more approachable as a character.  She wants to be a judge to help people.  A sentiment that Dredd scoffs at when she first airs it.  As her character is tested throughout the movie we see that Anderson, in her own way, is prepared to be as brutally efficient as Dredd is.  That she doesn't have to physically touch you to put a beating on you makes her slightly more scary in the event of eventual confrontation, that her compassion is still obvious means that you would probably turn to her before you turned to Dredd.  She is not yet as cold and callous as blind justice and perhaps, she never will be.

So why would I like the movie?

Well, for starters it depicts a world devoid of grace and compassion.  There are fleeting glimpses of it but very few characters that let you see it immediately or explicitly.  It is a very reachable world for humanity.  Law and the unrelenting punishment of justice.  A society that would never be accused of being soft on crime where every victim is assured that every ciminal will get nothing but justice via the maximum penalties afforded by the law.  Of course, in such a society the word innocent really doesn't belong.  People exist only as guilty and the not yet guilty.  In Mega City One vagrancy is punishable by time in iso-cubes.  It doesn't matter that there aren't enough homes for that many people.  It doesn't matter that unemployment rates are above 50%.  The law is the law and that is all judges see.

Judge Lex, in his assessment of the whole Mega-City experience says life is a Meat Grinder and the judges are responsible for cranking the handle.  Tough enough on crime for you?  Do you really want that exacting a justice?  I so hope not.

By stripping grace almost completely out of the equation the film lifts up that which humanity routinely undervalues.  Mercy and remorse.  Judge Anderson is the lense through which we get to see both and despite the fact that Anderson is not the centrepiece of the film it is Anderson who represents the best hope for Mega-City One.

Dredd is just holding the place together.

Grace and peace to you.

John