fascism |ˈfaSHˌizəm|(also Fascism ) noun an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.• (in general use) extreme right-wing, authoritarian, or intolerant views or practice.
I really wanted to like “Dredd” a lot more than I actually did. This is an odd because I am extremely fond of the character, though I think that I understand what my problem was.
It’s that there was virutally no one to root for. The Judges that exist in the film are, essentially, fascists (though I understand how they got to where they are, and emphasize to a point), while the criminal element generally takes advantage of people and their vulnerabilities, though that’s no different than when people first started to victimize each other.
Though I also emphasize with them, to a point.
“Dredd” is ripe for satire, like “Robocop,” which played in a similar sandbox; instead the film plays it straight, and suffers for it.
Another issue was that the canvas the film played upon was too intimate (the majority of the film takes place in “Peach Trees,” one of many massive buildings that the citizens of Mega City One call home). If the film had perhaps dealt more with the Cursed Earth storyline I think that it would have not only served as a better introduction to the character of Judge Dredd, and would have made him a bit more sympathetic to viewers.
I also understand that the film didn’t have a huge budget, though it would have benefitted from the significantly broader canvas.
Though an odd benefit of a lack of empathy for Dredd is that, unlike Batman or Iron Man, I wasn’t sure that Dredd would survive.
Though in the end I couldn’t relate closely enough to the character to care.
The image to the right is the one of the last from the trailer for Pete Travis‘ “Dredd,” and it looks like Karl Urban has nailed the look, though in the comics he generally appears thinner, almost gaunt, though other than that, he looks good.
What Danny Cannon’s 1995 version did right–for the most part–was the vision of Mega City One, which was very grand and sprawling.
In the trailer part of it looks like a modern slum by way of South Africa, which doesn’t quite work from what I recall of the comic series.
He even says, “I am the Law,” though I didn’t cringe when I heard it, which is a very good sign.
And in other matters, “The Amazing Spider-Man” is tracking toward $125 million over it’s first six days? Admittedly it’s an event film, but at the same time, it doesn’t appear to be doing anything significantly different from Sam Raimi’s first trilogy (other than the introduction of the Lizard.)
So, while I expect there to be little in the way of blockbuster competition, that figures seems a bit grandiose.
‘Dredd’ Pleases Comic-con Audiences
That’s quite possible, though the comparison to films like “Punisher: War Zone” isn’t quite as valid as the reviewer may think because, unlike “Dredd,” ‘War Zone’ was very stylized, and not entirely faithful to the character (especially with the hyper-violence. The Punisher, particular the Max version of the character, was very violent, but it didn’t necessarily come from Castle’s end).
The buzz from”Dredd” is that it’s very, very faithful to the character. In fact, it’s so faithful that Dredd (Karl Urban) supposedly doesn’t once reveal his face, which is exactly from the comic.
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