Dredd 3D (2012)

Directed by: Pete Travis | 95 minutes | action, science fiction | Actors: Karl Urban, Rachel Wood, Andile Mngadi, Porteus Xandau Steenkamp, ​​Jason Cope, Emma Breschi, Olivia Thirlby, Rakie Ayola, Lena Headey, Tamer Burjaq, Warrick Grier, Wood Harris, Shoki Mokgapa, Yohan Chun, Eden Knowles, Desmond Lai Lan, Deobia Oparei, Patrick Lyster, Chad Phillips, Domnhnall Gleeson, Joe Vaz, Scott Sparrow

After ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ you would think that we are tired of the countless cartoon adaptations, but nothing could be further from the truth. A few months later, another adventure full of incredible action is ready, this time it concerns the comic ‘Judge Dredd’ from the British magazine 2000 AD.

The future United States looks very different in ‘Dredd 3D’ than we are used to, after a nuclear war there is nothing more than three megacities. Mega-City One is one of these and is a turbulent environment with 800 million inhabitants and 17,000 crimes per day. Things are kept in check by the so-called ‘Judges’, who travel to a crime scene to immediately pass judgment on the culprit. This usually results in cold-blooded executions.

One day, Judge Dredd receives an order from the boss. He must take junior judge Anderson to her first assignment. However, something that looks like a ‘normal’ murder turns out to be part of a whole series, all carried out by a certain gang. This gang has power over an entire residential block and is led by the tough Ma-Ma. The two judges face a difficult time.

The plot is superficial and simple, actually not much happens. Almost the entire film is set in this one residential block and consists of just one chase, yet the minutes seem to fly by. ‘Dredd 3D’ is a joy to watch and is one of the few films that use 3D technology in a good way. The futuristic environment with infinitely high skyscrapers comes into its own, as the 3D effect emphasizes the perspective in an impressive way. Mega-City One also has a new craze: the drug Slo-Mo makes time go a hundred times slower and paints the world in a rainbow-like glow. The perspective of Slo-Mo junkies becomes exceptionally vivid with the help of 3D: the colors literally splash off the screen.

The events are generally quite chewed up, which makes sense considering the comic is decades old. However, the filmmakers seem to be conscious of this: by making the action scenes overly bombastic, it is almost a parody. This makes it easy to embrace the cliché. Fortunately, it was also decided to avoid the biggest cliché of romance between the main characters.

Interestingly, there is no strong distinction between the ‘good guy’ and the ‘bad guy’. It becomes clear from the story that the Judges are fair and the gang is full of criminals, but in practice they are not that different. Dredd and Anderson make unnecessarily many victims, which makes you doubt their goodwill. In addition, Ma-Ma is actually a much more captivating character with more depth, secretly pulling the viewer’s sympathy in her direction. This deliberation between good and bad gives the film an extra dimension to think about.

No matter how many cartoon adaptations there are, the allure of the shameless yet just bloodshed remains irresistible. ‘Dredd 3D’ also makes up for the poor plot with its beautiful images, and manages to leave the moviegoer delighted.