So I recently watched Dredd for the first time a few nights ago. I guess the best way to describe Dredd is to say that it is a definite action movie. There is blood and gore and guns and drugs and nudity and lots and lots of violence but overall there is something many comic book movies these days seem to lack: A STORY. It doesn't try to balance character with action. It doesn't give you the backstory on almost anything except the overall setting and brief explanations on the villain "Mama" and the second protagonist, the young rookie "Anderson."
So many movies and sci-fi movies in particular attempt only to balance elements within their stories instead of just telling a sequence of events, this is also why I felt Man of Steel was the best summer blockbuster of 2013, but that's not what I want to talk about. In a world where Hollywood's climate is quickly turning into what appears to be a new "Golden Age of Sci-Fi" with so many comic book movies hitting the big screen including many lesser known comics that have transitioned to cinema, such as- Hellboy, Kick Ass, Cowboys and Aliens and the currently in production: Guardians of the Galaxy and Mark Millar's Secret Service. (Hopefully we'll get an animated adaptation of The Goon soon enough as well). My point is sci-fi is becoming a go-to genre for the movie industry, with such original movies as Pacific Rim and Elysium blazing a trail for newer and better franchises that later in about the yer 2030 we can start to remake and reboot into new franchises and begin the cycle all over again.
Anyways, the thing about watching Dredd is it is so relieving. You're entertained by the character who you know nothing about. It's not an origin story or a tale of redemption. It's just about a badass cop who kicks ass and acts as judge, jury and executioner. It truly captures what it's like to read a comic book. Emersing yourself into a world for an hour and a half without having to sift through an entire mythology first. In that way it's one of the more beautiful cbms to date. You can say it's all action but it's really not. It is action-packed to be sure but in the end it's just a story. Not too mention the beautiful special effects and appropriate use of slow motion which can very easily become overkill. It's like watching Die Hard or another classic action hero flick. There's this total trust in the audience to understand motivations without printing it out for them in black&white.
Finally, Karl Urban's Judge Dredd was phenomenal. Somehow he made a constant angry frown into a character and it worked. You never even see the character's eyes but it totally makes sense and his performance just brings it to life. He's a badass. I won't list things to do in a sequel except perhaps use better marketing techniques since that appeared to be much of the struggle. It is in no way to do with unfamiliarity with the character from the mainstream audience as Kick Ass and Hellboy have both become successful films. All I can say is that when you step into Dredd you expect to see an action fest and that's what you get, but it's not action for the sake of action, in many ways its just a significant day in the life of a cop. This why I think Dredd deserves another shot. What do you think?