100 movies: Dredd 3D

comments 14
100 movies of 2012
Every year I set myself a target, usually of about 100, of films to watch. These are new films. Not new, new films. But films that are new to me. Any time I’ve seen a new one, I post a bit of a brain dump of my thoughts on the film here. Enjoy!

Dredd 3DDredd 3D (19/09/12)

In a violent, futuristic city where the police have the authority to act as judge, jury and executioner, a cop teams with a trainee to take down a gang that deals the reality-altering drug, SLO-MO.

Dear end of summer blockbuster season – you have been somewhat mediocre. No, you’ve just been mediocre. Please could you shove right along and let us get to the good stuff?

Is it me, or has this post-summer blockbuster season been worse than recent years? Don’t worry. I didn’t hate Dredd 3D. It’s just in a long line of very mediocre films I’ve seen this year.

It had its good stuff. Notably, the soundtrack. It’s every bit as loud, pumping and grimy as Peach Trees. Fits in perfectly with the film and is up there with one of my favourite soundtracks for this year.

Karl Urban plays a mean Dredd. He’s a judge and that’s pretty much all you get out of him. And yes, you don’t see his face once during the entire film. That made this girl very sad. (I was slightly concerned if Karl’s face hurt having to spend the entire film with the Dredd grimace plastered on his face. I tried it for 2 seconds on my way to work this morning and my face hurt.)

Lena Headey plays one mean villain. She plays a great villain in Game of Thrones, but here her villain status as Mama is a bit more clear-cut. I was sold that this one woman could be the leader of such a massive group of straight up thugs.

Olivia Thirlby’s character was my only ‘in’ with the film. The only character I could have empathise with and have a connection with. I’m sure that was the point. A nice touch. Even if her character wasn’t anything we haven’t seen before.

The problem I have with Dredd 3D was mostly the 3D. Pointless. I failed in finding a 2D screening. You can get the perfectly good depth achieved in films with a decent shot, not having to rely on 3D.

The other problem I had with Dredd was it just didn’t incite any emotion in me. Sure I might have smiled at a few jokes/deaths. (Some were amusing.) Might have winced once or twice. But it just felt like I was watching a film and not getting involved in it, you know? Megacity 1 looked amazing. The whole plot made sense in my head. But I had no attachment to the film.

By film’s end I was neither glad nor sad that it was over. I just followed the masses leaving the cinema. I am beginning to really tire of these mediocre films!
Rating: 3/5

Read on to see all the films watched this year…

72 Films so far this year

  1. The Tourist 1/5 (02/01/12)
  2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 5/5 (03/01/12)
  3. World’s Greatest Dad 2/5 (14/01/12)
  4. Haywire 3/5 (19/01/12)
  5. Dead Snow 3/5 (20/01/12)
  6. The Artist 5/5 (21/01/12)
  7. Priest 2/5 (05/02/12)
  8. The Muppets 5/5 (15/02/12)
  9. Faster 4/5 (19/02/12)
  10. Chronicle 4/5 (22/02/12)
  11. Safe House 4/5 (24/02/12)
  12. Reservoir Dogs 4/5 (25/02/12)
  13. This Means War 4/5 (02/03/12)
  14. The Royal Tenenbaums 3/5 (03/03/12)
  15. Reign of Fire 3/5 (04/03/12)
  16. Dear John 2/5 (04/03/12)
  17. Road to Perdition 5/5 (05/03/12)
  18. The Three Musketeers 3/5 (06/03/12)
  19. The Eagle 2/5 (10/03/12)
  20. Everybody’s Fine 2/5 (14/03/12)
  21. Frankenstein 4/5 (15/03/12)
  22. Love and Other Drugs 2/5 (15/03/12)
  23. You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger 2/5 (17/03/12)
  24. The Big Lebowski 5/5 (18/03/12)
  25. The Hunger Games 3/5 (23/03/12)
  26. Headhunters 4/5 (07/04/12)
  27. Super 1/5 (07/04/12)
  28. The Cabin in the Woods 5/5 (13/04/12)
  29. Watchmen 4/5 (14/04/12)
  30. The Hurt Locker 3/5 (21/04/12)
  31. Avengers Assemble 5/5 (26/04/12)
  32. 22 Bullets 2/5 (28/04/12)
  33. Bad Teacher 1/5 (29/04/12)
  34. Red Riding Hood 1/5 (04/05/12)
  35. A Perfect Getaway 4/5 (05/05/12)
  36. Ca$h 1/5 (13/05/12)
  37. Kung Fu Panda 2 3/5 (14/05/12)
  38. Everything Must Go 2/5 (24/05/12)
  39. New York, I Love You 2/5 (25/05/12)
  40. Beginners 4/5 (26/05/12)
  41. Prometheus 4/5 (03/06/12)
  42. The Tree of Life 2/5 (04/06/12)
  43. The Lovely Bones 3/5 (05/06/12)
  44. Snow White and the Huntsman 3/5 (06/06/12)
  45. The Devil’s Backbone 4/5 (07/06/12)
  46. Britain in a Day 5/5 (11/06/12)
  47. The French Connection 4/5 (15/06/12)
  48. Insomnia 3/5 (16/06/12)
  49. Rebel Without a Cause 4/5 (22/06/12)
  50. A Lonely Place to Die 3/5 (26/06/12)
  51. Killer Joe 3/5 (29/06/12)
  52. The Amazing Spider-Man 4/5 (03/07/12)
  53. Raising Arizona 4/5 (04/07/12)
  54. Horrible Bosses 4/5 (06/07/12)
  55. Broadcast News 3/5 (07/07/12)
  56. We Need to Talk About Kevin 4/5 (07/07/12)
  57. Miller’s Crossing 4/5 (18/07/12)
  58. The Dark Knight Rises 5/5 (20/07/12)
  59. 21 Jump Street 5/5 (29/07/12)
  60. The Mystery Team 3/5 (07/08/12)
  61. The Help 4/5 (11/08/12)
  62. The Bourne Legacy 3/5 (13/08/12)
  63. The Expendables 2 4/5 (17/08/12)
  64. Brave 5/5 (19/08/12)
  65. Dracula 3/5 (19/08/12)
  66. The Woman in Black 3/5 (24/08/12)
  67. The Mummy 4/5 (28/08/12)
  68. Lawless 3/5 (30/08/12)
  69. Real Steel 2/5 (31/08/12)
  70. [REC] 3 Genesis 2/5 (04/09/12)
  71. Take Shelter 4/5 (15/09/12)
  72. Dredd 3D 3/5 (19/09/12)

14 Comments

  1. Good review Jaina. It’s fun, bloody, and in-your-face, but it still felt like something was missing in the action-department at the end. I don’t know what it was, but something could have been a lot crazier about this material I feel like.

  2. I probably rent this one as the violence would definitely be too much for me. I’m super curious to see it after reading all the positive reviews, but the 3D is bad? Heh, all the more reason to just wait for the Blu-ray. I do love Karl but heh, you can’t see his gorgeous face!

    • The 3D’s as good as every other 3D film. For me. Pointless. Eh.

      Karl is good in it, so you’ll enjoy that bit when you finally see it 🙂

  3. hahaha I love it that you tried the face!!! I did too one day. I think it’s it’s an exceptional grimace and that’s why Urban got the role. Still want to see this even though I know it’s going to be meh! Will wait for the rental though!

    • If I remember rightly, he had a bit of a grimace as Bones in Star Trek, right?

      It’s an average film, probably best as a rental that’s for sure.

  4. Uuu, Lena is in it? Then I’m definetly catching this one once it’s on DVD. She is so terrific at playing villains.

    • Lena is one of the best things about this film. Her villain’s one you can sorta root for, in an evil kinda way.

  5. I am gutted you didn’t enjoy this as much as I did. Maybe because I grew up reading the comics and constantly drawing DREDD I was a little more attachd to this faithful adaptation…

    Good review though matey

    • I didn’t love it. But I didn’t hate it. It’s just one of those films for me. But from what I hear from the fans like yourself, it is a pretty faithful adaptation. So that’s a good thing.

      Yeah, didn’t grow up with Dredd. Heck, I think I only knew it was a comic book when I was reading SFX magazine and they were talking about it in there!

  6. I want to check this out, but I’m not really interested in the 3D either. Like Ruth suggested above, I’ll probably wait for the Blu-ray.

  7. I’m surprised you didn’t totally hate it. There are a lot of negative reviews floating around.
    I was a little taken aback by the fact the film never shows who’s underneath the mask/helmet. I can’t think of how difficult it must be for an actor to inhabit a role like this, where only half of your face gets the attention.
    Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Leave a Reply to Scott LawlorCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.