Dredd 3D 
Starring: Carl Urban, Olivia Thirlby,Lena Headey
Directed by Pete Travis
Rated: R
Run Time: 95 mins
Genre: Action/ Sci-Fi/ 3D Film
Opens September 21st
By Lisa Minzey
One of the other films we checked out this week is Dredd 3D, the adaptation of the British graphic novel series 2000 A.D. featuring Judge Dredd. Screenwriter Alex Garland (28 Days Later, The Beach, Sunshine) is a fanboy of the series so when he teamed up with director Pete Travis (Vantage Point, Endgame), they wanted to pay homage to the original series.
In the not too distant future, where the only inhabitable land stretches fromBostontoWashingtonD.C., most of the humanity lives in project-like buildings that are like cities/states with in Mega City One. Chaos runs rampant on the streets and the only authority figures to wield enough power to bring criminals to justice are the Judges. The most notoriously had core judge is Judge Dredd, a maverick within the force that uphold the law with no mercy. When Dredd is assigned rookie judge Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) to assess for active duty, he questions the personnel that would even put through someone likeAnderson.Andersonis a mutant that made it through the radiation downfall unharmed physically, but whose intuition was enhanced, leaving her with extraordinary psychic powers.
Under Dredd’s uncouth instructions, Anderson must be flawless in her tag along with Anderson for 24 hours. One wrong step will disqualify her from the organization and may end up taking her life, as well. Their fist call of the day is to Peachtree, one of the vertical 200 story slum high rises that dot the skyline of Mega City One. The crime scene is a grizzly one as 3 people have fallen to their death in the mezzanine below, leaving a nasty mess. According to residents, the ones responsible are most likely Ma-Ma (Lena Headey) and her gang of thugs who occupy the top floor of Peachtree and rule the building. Ma-Ma is an ex-prostitute who gained power after killing her pimp and uses lethal force to those who get in her way. Ma-Ma‘s drug dealers have been pushing the drug SLO-MO which has been a problem for the judges of Mega City One, and finding the distribution point.
Dredd and Anderson quickly apprehend one of Ma-Ma’s henchmen, which sends the crime syndicate into a frenzy, shutting down the building in an unauthorized lockdown. With no exit or link to communicate with the outside world, Anderson and Dredd’s lives are in grave danger as Ma-Ma puts an execution order out for the judges. Will they make it out alive or will Ma-Ma stay in power, using their deaths as a power play to control more of Mega City One?
For those who saw the first Judge Dredd movie with Sylvester Stallone, this is an entirely different film from its predecessor. Staying true to the comic book, Screenwriter Alex Garland wrote a compelling screenplay to please the fan boys, and entertain the masses. This is a gory, violent adaptation of a graphic novel done in full spectrum, Technicolor glory, with the bonus of 3D. Check it out when it opens in theaters nationwide starting Friday September 21,2012.
