Change Your Image
andrew-hannon3
Reviews
Dredd (2012)
This version is SIMPLY TRUE to the ORIGINAL!
Much has been made of Karl Urban and Olivia Thirlby's performances, and rightly so!
Urban IS Dredd, imbuing him with absolutist thinking, totalitarian authority and righteous purpose... ...in the face of violent, criminal anarchy and corruption.
Those who think of Thirlby's "Judge Anderson" as a late addition, created to provide some "emotional relief", need to be put right on the subject!
Anderson is an ORIGINAL character from 2000AD and provided us with some of Dredd's greatest plot lines, from the start.
Olivia Thirlby does a great job, giving us a complete character. Adept, brave and growing in strength; sensitive but not "gawky". It's as if she stepped from the page. And if you're happy with Anderson so far,believe me, "you ain't seen nothing' yet!", as somebody once said.
Some have attempted to write this movie off as mindless pap. They couldn't be further from the truth!
I'd suggest they think of Dredd as being colossal, Wagnerian, epic and operatic; tackling huge issues, in broad strokes, unafraid of high stakes and full of violent, reductive statements from all sides.
;)
Anderson was a feminist pioneer, when feminism was still a hot topic! Mega City One existed in a nuclear waste land, when the Cold War still held an imposing chill! The conflict between criminal anarchy and totalitarian authority provides the backdrop for Dredd's entire mythology.
Unthinking action? There is more subject matter here than you can shake a stick at!
Previous versions of Dredd have treated the franchise with very little respect. Nobody could be expected to take Dredd seriously, when he was played by Stallone in a cash-cow, reprising Rambo. The epitome of style over substance.
No wonder some people mistakenly feel the need, to talk about "the great one liners", when they have been led up the garden path for so long!
Those who wish to accuse Dredd of "borrowing" elements from other franchises, need to realise they're late. About 30 years late, to be precise.
Judge Dredd brings us a wealth of material, which has stood for 30 years, and still chimes the same uncomfortable chords.
This is the first film aiming to explore Dredd's world, instead of attempting to exploit his fans, his badge and his name!
This movie understands the themes, the personality of Dredd's world, and the issues arising in a version of our future, gone wrong.
Dredd has always been a FUTURE SHOCK, that perhaps isn't so far away!
Now it seems, Dredd is finding his place in our world.
;)
Bring me more!
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984)
Read Before Commenting!
Before commenting on Mr. Brett's performances, read the books. Otherwise, you have no idea of what Sherlock demands as a character!!! Some previous disparaging comments base an assessment on the stereotype found "in the movies". Sherlock should be smart, upper crust and stylish? NO - read a book if you can. Basil Rathbone's Sherlock fought the Nazis for god sake. Don't you see something wrong with that? Jeremy Brett not only plays t-h-e definitive Sherlock, He plays the most beautifully drawn, and accurate, characterisation; Standing clear yards above a-n-y other performance to date! The only performance full enough to satisfy anyone who has come within a whiff of Mr.A.C.Doyle's books!