Dredd

It’s basically a sequel of The Raid, an action flick without a solid story skeleton, but in this case, unfortunately, also without amazing fight choreography, without atmosphere and without a likeable protagonist. Karl Urban has had many better roles in his career, and Pete Travis certainly has the chops for more than just a mindless shooter that shows emotions as much as Dredd smiles. The three stars are for the great premise and setting, for the properly bloody action and for the fact that I wasn't bored for even a moment during those 90 minutes. But I don’t need to watch it again. 65% (07/15/2013)

Formally stylized, it is a bold and confident B-movie, well acted, straightforward enough, with a simple plot outline. Conquering the floors of a mega-building like in The Raid, only in the American way, is a rewarding variation in the action genre. And just when you think it's over, a reference to Blade Runner subtly winks at you. (02/09/2017)

Surprisingly good, but only on the second attempt. The first time I saw Dredd, I couldn't shake the impression for a good half of the film that Karl Urban was wearing a helmet a size too big and that most of what he says sounds wannabe tough/awkward. The second time around, however, all that disappeared and I noticed mainly the film's momentum, how thoughtful and blackly funny it is, how well Dredd and his partner fit together, how perfect Lena Headey is as the villain, and how all the bloody scenes have their reasons and none of them are there just for decoration... A lot of moments will probably become legendary (Dredd coming in, throwing the henchman off the catwalk, and leaving again) and if it's true that there won't be a sequel, then that’s a real shame. The next time I see the film (and it is certain that I will see it), I may very well add a fifth star. (04/03/2014)

I wasn’t looking forward to it. I don’t know the comics, I didn’t watch the first Judge Dredd, I don’t like this kind of action B-movies, and the trailer was repellent. In short, the ideal position for a movie to surprise me. And it did. It’s brutal, with a dose of exaggeration so perfectly balanced that it doesn’t look cringe, but cool. Everything is properly intense: the visuals, the violence, the dialogues, the actors; everything is over the top, but not too much. Dredd can be considered utter bullshit, and many people will for sure. But for me it’s a distinctive, engaging, intense and purposeful movie without much competition in its sub-genre. (12/20/2012)

It cannot in any case be denied that the new Dredd movie is a knock-off of the Indonesian film The Raid, but the plagiaristic practices at its core at least appropriately recall the fact that this is pure-blooded B-movie trash. British film production is not trying to jump on the current Hollywood cash cow of comic-book movies as the equivalent of action blockbusters for the new millennium. On the contrary, it is quite blatantly staying at the level of trash that’s inaccessible to young people. However, that doesn’t mean that the filmmakers have given up on having any kind of ambition. Dredd is actually captivating with the inventiveness with which it embellishes the straightforward story and the purely artificial and, in many cases, entirely unjustified attraction of 3D. These days, stereoscopic projections are nothing more than an excuse to entice audiences into cinemas and pull a little more money out of their pockets than usual, but only a few such films contain at least slightly memorable sequences that somehow employ the illusion of three-dimensionality. Dredd offers up the entirely trivial attraction of slow-motion money shots, which it simply but all the more effectively and cleverly justifies in the narrative with a parallel storyline involving a drug aptly called Slo-Mo. As a result, however, the film is most surprising in that Dredd himself comes off as a bundle of sympathetically amusing clichés and would-be tough-guy lines unconvincingly delivered with appropriate woodenness by Karl Urban, who has zero charisma or personality. On the other hand, that enables the two main female character, portrayed by the perfectly type cast Olivia Thirlby and Lena Headey, to stand out all the more in comparison with him. Thanks to that, Dredd is not just another eighties macho throwback or a Marvel-esque would-be dramatic blockbuster faking depth, but a dynamic trash flick with enticing female characters. (05/03/2013)