Dredd 3D Review
The Plot:
The future. America is an irradiated wasteland. On its East Coast, running from Boston to Washington DC lies Mega City One, a vast, violent metropolis of over 400 million citizens living in perpetual fear. The only ones attempting to impose order in the urban chaos are The Judges. Law enforcers, juries, judges and executioners rolled into one. The epitome of these Judges is Dredd. The Chief Judge gives Dredd a mission. To road test a rookie Judge, the powerful psychic Cassandra Anderson. It is going to be a training day. The Judges head for a seemingly routine homicide in the notorious Peach Trees mega-block – a 200 story vertical slum run by the pitiless Ma-Ma Clan. When the Judges attempt to arrest one of Ma-Ma’s chief henchmen, Ma-Ma shuts down the entire building and orders her clan to hunt the Judges down. Our two judges are now caught in a vicious and relentless fight for survival.
The Good:
Well, welcome to the future ladies and gents, and boy is it bleak! It seems that any hope of clearing up the streets of America and living in harmony is well and truly out the window, instead we have a wasteland – oh Joy! But its not all bad folks, our brutal police has seemingly risen to the challenge of governing this dystopian future. Setting the scene for a distinctly fun filled action packed ride. An ultra-violent tale of a normal day in the office gone slightly askew for the legendary law dispensing Dredd.
Unlike the infamous 90′s Sylvester Stallone version, this re-awakening of Judge Dredd, manages to avoid making this comic book adaptation unintentionally laughable. This time Dredd (Karl Urban) really does work his lower jaw at all the right times, and provides welcome light relief to some extensively violent scenes. Urban’s Dredd, brings us the comic book character we’ve been waiting for. Emotionless, driven and without any sob story context for how he came to be the toughest cop in Mega City One. Judge Dredd simply is exactly what he is. So if its action you’re after, then its action you are going to get.
The other characters in the film work well too without relying on huge Hollywood names. Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) and Ma-Ma (Lena Heady) are engaging, understated disturbing and complex; as their characters joust with Dredd for your attention.
If you’re not a fan of comic book adaptations, then don’t be alarmed by yet another hitting your cinema screens. This is a far cry from The Avengers and doesn’t have the “this could actually happen” feel of Nolan’s Batman trilogy either. Dredd really isn’t for kids, and that 18 certificate is slapped all over it for a reason! To top it off, it really is in glorious 3D. Dredd is one of those films that uses the effect for a very good reason. There are some spectacular slo-mo “300” esq moments which really do engulf the audience; with the audio soundtrack pumping through your blood you feel almost as if you are a spectator in Peach Trees complex.
The Bad:
It’s difficult to find to many faults with Dredd, but if you did watch recent Asian action effort The Raid, then you may find it hard to shake the suspicion you’ve seen key elements of this story somewhere before. It’s unfortunate that both films coincidentally built themselves around the same concept, but if you missed The Raid in cinemas, then prepare to be wowed this time. Equally, those wanting to find out more about Judge Dredd’s origins, may find the lack of backstory frustrating. This film picks a moment in time and concentrates on it, no more, no less.
Finally, be warned, Dredd does not hold back from its violence. Where you’d expect a jump cut to spare you from seeing the inevitable after a point blank shooting, it just isn’t there. Within the first five minutes be prepared to see a head implode in grisly 3D detail. Director Pete Travis (Endgame) clearly delights in making audiences squirm, his approach will either be exhilarating or nauseating depending on your constitution.
The Ugly Truth:
Dredd 3D is a gore-fest action flick which keeps your pulses racing from start to finish. It doesn’t paint a pretty picture of what the world could look like in a few years time, but whilst we speculate on whether or not that is the future spend a tenner in the cinema to check it out in all its 3D glory as its most definitely worth a watch.
The film is out this Friday 7th September, but till then check out the Official Dredd 3D trailer below:
Joss Whedon talks New Avengers Footage & TV Series
The Avengers will arrive on Blu-ray and DVD on 17th September. An alternate opening sequence for the film was recently released online as part of nearly an hour of unseen footage fans will get to see as DVD extras. Director Joss Whedon has spoken recently to explain why so much superhero material got left on the cutting room floor.
“Two factors, One: the movie was three hours long. Two: audiences didn’t respond to it as well in the movie as I think they would as a DVD extra. Most of them didn’t know who this character was or what the context was, and they were like, ‘Uhhh, I don’t know why I’m supposed to be personally involved in this character I don’t know.’”
“The rollout to the Avengers getting to Loki was so gradual that people were getting restless. I thought Cobie [Smulders] nailed it, and the reason I thought it was necessary is because I was trying to make a war movie and I wanted to give context that something bad had happened in the past.”
“In a war movie, you don’t know who’s going to live or die, but you do know that this war happened and that [the characters] are going to be in a dire circumstance, and I wanted to create that atmosphere. I was able to get what I needed without doing that. It was tough. I hated cutting it.”
Following the staggering critical and box office success of The Avengers, Joss Whedon has been given a wide reaching role to guide Marvel Studio’s creative output, including consulting on all their leading superhero franchises until at least 2015. Whedon spoke of his newfound position of unlimited influence and the new S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series he’s doing for ABC.
“I loved the idea of being a consigliere. Every writer loves the idea of being able to go in and fix a problem and then leave without obligation. It’s fun! I also love these characters and the Marvel universe, and I grew up reading the books, and I’ve been going back and reading the old books and realising that they shaped my storytelling way more than I give them credit for.”
“Now I’m starting up a TV show, which is something I really wanted to do, but I thought it wasn’t going to be a part of my life for the next several years. It’s like a tapas menus of projects that excite me, in addition to the Avengers sequel, which I’m excited for because I’m incredibly excited about the next story that I’m going to tell. For me, it’s a huge win.”
Sam Rami Explains The Possession
Producer Sam Rami has been talking to promote his latest horror collaboration The Possession, directed by Ole Bronedal and starring Natasha Calis, Kyra Sedgwick and Jeffery Dean Morgan.
Here’s the official synopsis for the creepy tale: A young girl buys an antique box at a yard sale, unaware that inside the collectible lives a malicious ancient spirit. The girl’s father teams with his ex-wife to find a way to end the curse upon their child.
Here’s what Sam Rami had to say about what inspired his involvement in the project:
“My partner, Nathan Kahane, had brought in to the office an article fromThe L.A. Times, written by Leslie Gornstein, and it was called Jinx in a Box. It was about this terrible Dibbuk box, and the article told the story of all these different people that had come in contact with it and the awful things that had befallen them, and it was really freaky and scary.”
Possession has been a big part of Rami’s past work, starting obviously with his cult classic Evil Dead Trilogy and even creeping its way into Spider-Man 3 when Peter Parker found himself turned tragically emo by evil black alien goo. Here’s how Rami explained the continued fascination with the phenomena:
“It’s so easy, in three different ways, to see how possession exists, in our world,” he says. “The first is just when you see a very domineering person who has somebody that they’re with, obviously under their psychological control. We know that that exists, in that form. The domination of one’s spirit and mind is not a pretty thing, but I think it happens.”
“The second type of possession we see is a computer possession. You’re able to go into and hack somebody’s computer and take over its brain. It’s not a living thing, but it’s a purely mathematical position. You’re able to tell their computer to do anything you want it to do. So, it exists in that form, in our world.”
“And then, finally, there’s a virus that’s a little piece of floating RNA that splices itself into our DNA and tells your body, ‘Replicate me until the red hour, and then we’ll go berserk and take control.’ Really, it’s controlling your body. It’s secretly there, until one day it becomes known. That’s the physical kind of possession that takes place. So, because there are so many types of possession already in our world, it’s actually just a small step for me to believe that this type of possession could actually be real.”
The Possession takes hold of UK cinemas from Friday 31st August
Jerry Bruckheimer Talks Lone Ranger Movie
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has been updating fans via his blog on how things are going on the set of The Lone Ranger, due for release next summer
“Almost done with filming of The Lone Ranger. 125 days of shooting seemed to fly by. We dealt with winds up to 70 mph, rain, snow, and even wildfires but nothing has stopped us from filming this incredible movie.”
“The cast has been absolutely amazing and we could not have asked for a better crew. Everyone has been extremely dedicated in making this film a major success. We have a few more filming days back in California and then post-production goes into high gear. Before we know it, it will be 3 July 2013 and we can’t wait to share this incredible film with everyone.”
The film directed by Gore Verbinski, stars Armie Hammer as the iconic Cowboy hero and Johnny Depp as his Indian companion Tonto. We recently spoke to young British actor Harry Treadaway who plays one of the evil desperados in the film; he spoke about how the film’s tribal themes would be relevant for a modern audience.
Video clip below:
Sony Making Metal Gear Solid Movie
Spider-Man producer Avi Arad has confirmed that Sony Pictures is making a film version of best-selling computer game Metal Gear Solid. The first person shooter features super-spy mercenary Solid Snake, tasked with destroying a mysterious mecha armed with nuclear weapons.
Solid Snake may be one of the most ludicrous names imaginable but the combination of badass unstoppable hero and blistering action had long left fans speculating that it was prime material for a big screen treatment.
Speaking about the project during a short speech at an event in Japan to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the game Avid Arad said:
“For many years I fought to bring comics to theaters and videogames are the comics of today.”
Given the recent prolifically lucrative success of comicbook adaptations like Avengers and Dark Knight Rises it seems clear that studios are very enthusiastic about tapping into existing franchise fanbases to guarantee box office success.
Recent video game adaptations like Prince of Persia Sands of Time have failed to translate record breaking game sales into critical and commercial success with film versions. But Sony will hope that with the right leading man Metal Gear Solid could avoid similar disappointments.
There’s no actor in place yet for Solid Snake, but expect the like of Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hardy and Christian Bale to all be linked to it in coming weeks