“Dredd” (2012)

In a violent, futuristic city where the police have the authority to act as judge, jury and executioner, a cop teams with a trainee to take down a gang that deals the reality-altering drug, SLO-MO.

Reviewed by Brian

Rating –  6 out of 10

As this movie started, the first thing that entered my mind was, “Oh no, not again.” It has a cheesy chase scene followed by bad one liners from the new Judge Dredd played by Karl Urban. It had an eerily similar feel to the first Robocop film minus the tongue in cheek humor. Then, a great story decision got me hooked and led this to be a solid if unspectacular action film. About a third of the way through the movie, Dredd and his rookie partner investigate a triple murder at a futuristic version of inner city projects. They take a gang member into custody to obtain information and on their way out, the gang leader overrides the security and locks everyone inside.

It then becomes 2 vs an entire gang and the results were predictable but fun. Several key action scenes do build tension to a climax that feels familiar but satisfying for this genre. It is light years better than that pile of shit Stallone starred in way back in the mid 90’s.

Don’t get you hopes too high though. Several factors keep this from being anything more than fun and forgettable. First off, Judge Dredd is a robotic character. He has zero personality and might as well be a cyborg. His behavior is so lifeless that it reminded me of Robocop. Second, the female gang leader never really struck me as an interesting antagonist. Se snarls, she acts like she’s pissed, and she orders evil deeds. But, I never really bought the character or the performance.

Don’t let these mild negative annoyances dissuade you from seeing it though. It’s a well made action film that will keep you entertained as long as you temper your expectations.

Red

After trading in his professional past as a black-ops CIA operative for a new identity, Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) is basking in normality. But he’s forced to return to old habits when an assassin puts a target on his back and goes after the woman (Mary-Louise Parker) he loves. Helen Mirren and John Malkovich co-star as former members of Frank’s team who reluctantly reassemble to save his life in this Golden Globe-nominated action-comedy.

Brian
Rating: 3 out of 10

Red is a bad movie. There’s no way around it. I tried to focus on the positive elements of this film. The cast is fantastic all around, particularly Hellen Mirren and John Malkovich. They chew up every scene they’re in and deliver the dialogue in a fun and engaging way. Bruce Willis is also good, as he always is, playing the action hero (a role he was born to play going all the way back to 1988’s Die Hard).

But, I have to point out that the story just plain sucks. It centers on the idea that the Vice President wants to kill a group of ex-CIA soldiers that witnessed his war crimes years and years ago in South America. That’s it…..boooorrriiinngg! It also brings up several questions: Why the hell would he wait 20+ years to take them out? Also, who was talking about his war crimes or threatening to go public? Not a soul! It’s such a huge gaping hole in the plot that is never explained and can’t be excused away as: “Well, it’s just an action movie.” All movies, regardless of genre, have to give me a reason to give a shit about what I’m experiencing. Red gives me zero reasons to stay attentive except for the great cast that is given nothing to do that’s remotely interesting. In fact, I can’t remember a film that had this much action that was so boring. There’s very little danger, no one dies, and the situations are just flat out ridiculous. For example, Bruce Willis has a shootout with a character on a city street. Well, you could call it a city street except for the fact that THERE’S NO PEOPLE ON IT!!! Then, there’s another scene where Bruce Willis breaks into the CIA headquarters, which can apparently be done if you dress in a general’s uniform and have a special contact lens. Once he’s inside the headquarters, he goes to the file room where he meets an old CIA rep. who is old friends with him and hands him the whole file he needs. Why didn’t he just give him a call and meet up with him outside? The mere fact that I’m figuring out all this shit after one viewing and the makers of this turd lived with it for years is just shocking.

Judge Dredd Remake in the works

The original Judge Dredd — starring Sylvester Stalone — made my list of Top 5 word comic book movies of all time. It’s a complete piece of crap, and not only was the movie bad, but the comic is nothing to write home about, either. If the source material isn’t there, the film won’t be.

Today, photos were released of a new Judge Dredd film, simply titled “Dredd,” which stars Karl Urban, better known as Bones in 2009’s “Star Trek,” in the title role and Olivia Thirlby (The Wackness).  Peter Tavis, known for films such as “Endgame” and “Vantage Point,” will direct. Oh… and this one will be in 3D. Wonderful…

Production company Lion’s Gate describes the film as such:  “Dredd takes us to the wild streets of Mega City One, the lone oasis of quasi-civilization on Cursed Earth. Judge Dredd is the most feared of elite Street Judges, with the power to enforce the law, sentence offenders and execute them on the spot – if necessary. The endlessly inventive mind of writer Alex Garland and the frenetic vision of director Peter Travis bring DREDD to life as a futuristic neo-noir action film that returns the celebrated character to the dark, visceral incarnation from John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra’s revered comic strip.”

We’re sinking to new lows, people. We’re now remaking the worst movies ever made. Are we that devoid of fresh ideas?