DREDD 3D review Charles Dunne gives us the lowdown on the recent film
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ell, first of all I have a couple of things I need to get out of the way. I’ve been reading Dredd in 2000 AD since 1977 so you may say that I am au fait with the character. From his first issue in Prog 2 right up to where we are now, which is Prog 1801 as I write this, including Annuals, Yearbooks, Specials, crossovers and the Megazine. That’s 35 years. Grud on a greenie, as Mega-City parlance would have it. So I’m (a) obviously biased when it comes to this character and (b) was nervous as hell considering the atrocity inflicted upon us in 1995 via Sly Stallone’s “Judge Dredd” movie. Now, there will be some spoilers so if you continue reading on your own head be it. I had expectations, high hopes, and a fear of one of my favourite characters biting the dust in another bloated actioner. Thankfully only the first two were fulfilled. Dredd 3D is quite frankly an incredible little movie. Don’t let that last sentence confuse you. Dredd 3D IS a small film but only insofar as it is very controlled in terms of its central scope and theme. One day in the life of Judge Dredd as he takes a rookie judge on a make or break street assessment wherein they must seize control of a Mega-City tower block from an insane drug
lord. That is it. They are on their own and seemingly the odds are against them. It will be compared to The Raid inevitably so I’ll just get that out of the way first. Dredd has being doing this type of thing in the comics since 1980, with Prog 182’s “Block War”. That kind of puts the kibosh on that. You may as well compare Battle Royale to The Hunger Games and have done with it. Oh, you did. Right then.
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I had expectations, high hopes, and a fear of one of my favourite characters biting the dust in another bloated actioner.”
Karl Urban’s casting as Dredd is a marvel. The amount of acting a man can do with only his mouth and chin visible throughout an entire film is astounding. The iconic helmet is never removed once it goes on and everything is telegraphed into his voice and
Charles Dunne Charles Dunne has been frequently described as insane, immortal, invincible and sleepless. He is none of these things, preferring as he does a nice snooze of an evening with a copy of The Strand magazine and a slipper of good tobacco. The other slipper he wears as an odd type of shoulder ornament.
body language, with a few choice grimaces and scowls thrown in for good measure. His every action is based on a predatory stalk, a coiled spring being unwound and then rewound. The action pulses in waves rather than hitting you