The first time I've heard about Judge Dredd wasn't in the comic books, it was when the promotional machine started rolling for the 1995 movie with Sylvester Stallone. As a kid of the 1990's. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone were my silver screen heroes. And I didn't know anybody who would miss even one movie with those guys. They were like superheroes. But when Sylvester Stallone was announced as an actual comic book superhero in a costume, well, you could imagine the excitement of that 10 year old comic book and movie fan. Stallone as a superhero! 1995's Judge Dredd was promoted very well I would say, at least form my point of view because I could see it everywhere: full covers on movie magazines, articles in every entertainment and teen magazine, TV spots and occasional TV specials. European Bravo magazine even told the entire story of the movie from beginning to end using stills, spoilers and all. Few magazines (Bravo, Popcorn) always did that with the biggest movies of the month, so it wasn't unusual. We didn't care. It's like knowing about a ride from friends, but of course you want to experience it yourself. Story in a pill: a future only has few giant cities in existence, so a large population is squeezed together which is a recipe for high crime rate. For more efficient policing, there are street judges: cops, judges and jurys in one. The best and most dedicated Judge, Dredd, is framed for murder and sent to Aspen prison. The ship with the prisoners crash lands and Dredd and his comedic relief companion, Fergee, try to get back into the city and get the bad guy who framed him: Dredd's brother Rico.
However, there was no way I would've been able to see it in movie theaters, given that the movie was rated R. I knew that and I was eagerly awaiting the release on VHS. In the meantime, I read my first Dredd comic book, Batman vs Judge Dredd so I got to know the foundation of that mythology. It's been a while since I finally could finally rent it and I remember the excitement when the movie started. The movie was produced by Cinergi Pictures, which was formed by the co-creator of the famous Carolco. And I loved that logo. there were some movie logos that just got you excited for what's about to come, like Tri-Star or Universal, and Cinergi had that quality to itself. What followed the opening production company logo was probably one of the most exciting title screens ever, thanks to the adrenaline pumping track by the legendary Alan Silvestri. And then? I liked the movie up until Dredd got falsely accused. Then it was just a barely ok scifi movie with Stallone, a bit similar in tone to other mid 1990s scifi movies that in my opinion at the time really sucked. Whenever I saw the movie again I only watched it until Dredd is arrested.
So let's jump forward. When I had my period of renewed interest in movies (see this post), that movie was one of the many that just wasn't as good as I remembered it to say the least, and I just thought it's ok back then to begin with. I decided to rewatch it again recently with a completely different mind and eye.
First of all, it's amazing how much top notch A list talent was involved in the movie. It's got a great, superstar cast: Sylvester Stallone in his prime, Rob Schneider (not a great actor but a big star at the time), Diane Lane, Max Von Sydow, Jurgen Prochnow, James Remar - I mean what a cast! And James Earl Jones, the voice of Darth Vader, reads the intro to the movie.
The soundtrack is done by the legendary Alan Silvestri, one of the greatests, who scored such movies as Back To The Future Trilogy, The Abyss, Predator, Forrest Gump, Avengers; Endgame and many others.
The cinematography is by Adrian Biddle, who lit Aliens, Willow, Thelma & Louise among others.
The movie is co-written by William Wisher (who co-wrote Terminator 2: Judgment Day) and Steve de Souza, the writer of Die Hard! And the producer is Andrew Vajna who co-produced Rambo movies and co-created Carolco.
And the Judges' costumes are designed by Armani. yes, that Armani
However, this movie proves how crucial a director really is. Even with so much talent, the movie is just so cheesy and bad. I had to split the movie into two to finish watching it, and I'm the kind of guy who actually often likes cheesy movies and finds some charm in them. Not in this one, which is a pity because it's got a promise of something really cool, even if dated or cheesy. Unfortunately, it's just lifeless, soulless Stallone mid 90's action movie with overabundance of unnecessary goofy humor.
I disliked the idea of Dredd just becoming a regular guy who is wrongfully accused then and I still dislike it now. I'd rather see Dredd just being Dredd. Instead, it basically sheds the whole character and premise to quickly turn into another action piece with Stallone in a ripped shirt running, shooting and screaming. It's the same principle as with 1987's Masters of the Universe - you wanted to see He-Man being He-Man on Eternia, not going to Earth after few scenes in the beginning.
Rob Schneider's character is not funny at all and is almost solely responsible for the ridiculousness of the movie. Not only this character is not funny, everything involving him makes no sense: from the improbability of him ending up next to Dredd on a shuttle to prison, to Dredd asking him to stick around for some reason. He brings the cartoon-ness to the movie, accidentally helping out and getting Dredd into trouble all the time by mistake. It's a cartoon character with a very cartoony humor in an R rated movie.
There's just mass of stuff that really makes no sense. Listen, I'm definitely not the kind of a guy who looks for plot holes etc and I dislike that kind of approach. Movies are meant to be kinetic experience, a journey, tale, adventure, a ride. Cynically pointing things that don't make sense or aren't reflecting real life is a sign that movies aren't for you. Movies are tales, not an attempt to recreate a what-if scenario. But in this movie those things are just so in your face it's distracting and you can't help but to notice and focus on them. And there are some really questionable morals in this movie, for example: Dredd, convicted of a murder and a fugitive, is being chased by Law Enforcement guards on flying bikes, and not only is he shooting them, but he cheers when they're killed in the pursuit. They're good guys! They don't know he's innocent! And there's plenty of stuff like that
There's no heart or real emotion in the movie. The only brief traces of actual emotion is when Dredd recalls his brother and in Dredd's interaction with the Chief Justice played by the phenomenal Max Von Sydow. Incidentally, those moments are also few ones where the Cinematographer's talent shines through. The rest of the movie isn't bad looking but isn't anything unusual of its era. It does have it's moments thought
The suits designed by Armani are actually pretty awesome. They're nearly completely identical to the comic book version, aside from small readjustment of the helmet to more closely resemble an actual motorcycle helmet.
I come from an era when comic books were adjusted to real life, when comic book pages were translated into the movie, not transplanted. What I mean by that is that the most awesome comic book costume will look silly in real life in a real action movie. It may be a rare and controversial opinion nowadays, but that's how I feel. Warriors and fighters can't have Spirit Halloween costumes on them that performers wear for 3 year old's birthday party. With that line of thinking, Batman did not have a blue and gray spandex but a black armor instead in the 1989 movie, Punisher did not have a costume and symbol in the movie of the same year, and Shredder was completely redesigned for the 1990 TMNT movie. As far as Dredd: admittedly those 1995 costumes looks really cool, but they are impractical which even the movie shows! Once Dredd starts running and fighting, he drops the bulky "decorations" off his shoulders because they were cumbersome and restricting. But in this instance, the costumes do work within the context of the movie because everything is so fully sci-fi, the whole world is whacky-looking so those costumes fit right in
The sets are really good too, and mostly practical of course, and create a good mix of the Blade Runner look with the mid 90s look of scifi. The ABC robot, Rico's bodyguard, seems to be popular with the viewers. I didn't like the design as a kid much, but nowadays I think it's a nice comic book design and a good addition
The music is great in places, but even Silvestri doesn't create anything exceptional for this movie other than the opening track and the character theme. There really aren't many redeeming factors. I suppose if someone does specifically look for something to feed the mid 1990s nostalgia, this movie goes fairly well with other scifi movies of the time I didn't (and still don't) like at all such as The Fifth Element, Demolition Man and Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace. Even the tech that usually impressed me in older sci-fi was just ok. All in all, it's a cheesy and bad movie that fails to have any real emotions, and is full of loud, over the top action and typical 90's movie humor.
The only redeeming factors are the visual design and the score. Even Stallone, who usually creates likable and charismatic characters simply just doesn't shine here and lacks his usual charm. It's as if the character hasn't been well defined for him in this movie.
***
DREDD (2012)
Dredd from 2012 is as different of a movie as it can possibly be. While the 1995 version is a typical 90s big action extravaganza with big names, 2012 Dredd is a small, down and dirty, independent movie. It plays it absolutely seriously and realistically, - it tries to show us a world that could be real and isn't that far in the future. There's no flying cars, robots or anything like that. It's an urban decay. It uses African city's real architecture augmented by few concrete skyscrapers and the action is confined to one building.
You can tell it's an indy movie and the movie doesn't try to hide it or pretend to be something else. But it isn't a lifeless handheld-camera-over-the-shoulder type of an indy movie.
The soundtrack is very forgettable and stock, which is usual for indy movies, and it's just your average pulsating score with some rock sound. Also, have in mind this movie was made when 2008's The Dark Knight's influence loomed large: comic book movies tended to be dark in nature, downbeat and depressing, although to be fair that was what the mythology was.
Those two movie adaptations just could not be any different. Perhaps the sight of the designs of the same outfit from those two movies can speak for themselves
So what's the plot of this one? Dredd and a rookie cop investigate gang killings in a huge apartment block ruled by drug lord Momma. She puts the building on the lockdown in order to kill the two judges so they don't talk about the drug factory on the top floors. Both judges are trying to make their way to the top floor to get to Momma and lift the lockdown. So it's a simple, small indy movie except that it's in 3D.
Is it a good movie? Yes, but there's an asterix here: it's the kind of movie you would find on streaming when you feel like watching a small movie and you'd go "that wasn't bad" , and you'd move on. While there's not much I could find wrong in the movie, it isn't anything special. Would I recommend it to people who aren't fans of the genre? Not sure. Since the plot is to go and get a drug lord by killing gang members floor by floor, generic movie fans might get bored or want something more character oriented. But I think the movie has enough to keep you engaged and manages to be engaging despite its production value and the simplicity of the plot. I think Olivia Thirlby did wonders with very little to create a likeable character that you don't want to get hurt, while Karl Urban is absolutely 100% comic book Dredd
Comments
Post a Comment