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Best of the decade: Dredd (2012)


A review by Forrest Humphrey

It seems so rare we get an action flick that's actually good on multiple levels. Mad Max: Fury Road was one, and 2012's “Dredd” was another. Adapted from the long running comic series “2000 AD”, the film follows the titular Judge Dredd, played by Karl Urban, as he oversees rookie Judge Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) on what's supposed to be a basic drug bust case for her first live mission. What they run into is Ma Ma (Lena Heady) and her vicious 'Ma Ma Clan'. Trapped by the gang in an enormous skyscraper, Dredd and Anderson have to fight for their lives and, if everything works out, stop the operation. 
Dredd is a lean, no-nonsense dystopian sci-fi action thriller. It knows exactly how to spend its budget with great sets, costume design and of course, wonderfully visceral gunfights. Humor is dry and injected at just the right moments to keep the film fun without ruining the tension, and all of it is enhanced by a fantastic score of dirty, scratchy synth one would expect from a cyberpunk flick. The pacing is always on point, a fight is never around a corner but its not a roller coaster, down time is used very effectively to either flesh out a character or sprinkle in some worldbuilding without ever dragging the flow down.
Karl Urban is one of the most underappreciated actors working today, I've always loved him when he turns up, be it as Eomer in Lord of the Rings or Dr. McCoy in Star Trek, and he plays Dredd immaculately. True to the comics, you NEVER see Dredd without his helmet, yet Urban brings his A-game for a role he was truly passionate about; his physical acting and gruff voice are perfect for the role. Thirlby is also fantastic as Judge Anderson, a rookie in over her head trying to come to grips with her situation, stay alive, and most importantly, hang onto a sense of optimism and compassion the world tends to burn out of people. And oh boy, if you love how vicious Lena Heady is as Cersei Lannister she is a NASTY piece of work here as Ma Ma, leader of a drug cartel who started as a hooker who killed her pimp by biting his pecker off when he slashed her face up, and she only got more crazy and bloodthirsty from there. 

There's nothing especially deep or mind-blowing about Dredd, its just a perfect action film.  Its a damn shame the film didn't do better because they wanted to do more of these and eight years later I still want a “Dredd” sequel. Tightly paced, viscerally satisfying, just the right amount of dry wit and stellar performances from the whole cast. If you havent seen “Dredd” do yourself a favor, you'd be hard pressed to find a better action movie these days OR a more faithful comic adaptation. Dredd is, after all, the law!


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