JUDGE DREDD
A film review by Paul Easter
Copyright 1995 Paul Easter
Yes, I know this isn't the first review of the movie. Yes, I know most people who want to have seen it. Despite this, I feel it my duty to save as many people as possible from the boredom that is JUDGE DREDD. I'm not going to beat about the bush: this movie sucks. With a licence as potentially rewarding as the Judge Dredd one, any studio worth its salt ought to have taken care to not mess things up. But no-- what did they do? They took the most standard-fare action movie script I've ever seen, stuffed in a few second-rate SFX and slapped Sylvester Stallone's name on the top. Urgh.
The existing fan-base for Dredd should've been enough to convince them that this was not supposed to be the average actioner. It shocks me that this movie has paid so little attention to the comic fans--for a start, these people know what Dredd should be! I'm by no means a comic book Judge Dredd fan, however. I know people who are, but more important: I know enough to not assume anything about Dredd. The filmmakers in this instance have made wild assumptions about Dredd; they turn him into yet another muscle-bound bad ass with a good heart. This movie makes me sick.
Okay, enough about my problems with the story. To be honest, if you go to see Dredd with no preconceptions you might just enjoy it. There's nothing really wrong with it, if you like action films. But that said, there's nothing right about it either; no innovation on the part of the script or plot. This movie looks like it's been produced by a machine, not by a talented bunch of human beings. The plot is so flaky it's unbelievable--full of holes, with no real aim or point to make.
Those of you who like big explosions and computer SFX will be ... will be ... thoroughly disappointed, also! There is *one* very impressive scene, right at the beginning reminiscent of a similar scene in Blade Runner. But that's where it ends: some effects are obviously fake (the bike chase one) whilst others just look downright silly.
To those of you who go and enjoy this movie--well done. You must be either very charitable when it comes to handing over money to cinema owners, or else you're also a fan of mental torture. I fail to see any way this film could be anything more than average in anyone's books.
-- Paul Easter\ E-mail: paul@ppeaster.demon.co.uk
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