I miss the 80’s.  Well technically I wasn’t there, but I do wish they still made action movies like they did in the late 80’s and the early 90’s.  This was when conventional (barely any computers used) effects were at their peak, a few years before CGI (Computer Generated Effects) was as widely used as it is now.  The effects in those movies were (in my opinion) far better than anything a computer can generate and really showed off what make-up artist could do.  I bring this up not because the movie I am about to review uses conventional effects (it most definitely uses CGI), but I do bring this up because this movie reminds me of movies such as Robocop and Die Hard; simple movies that are extremely entertaining to watch.  Dredd 3D is one of those movies; a movie that doesn’t push the boundaries of film making, but does remind me that some movie don’t have to be complex or thought provoking to be good.

Dredd 3D is based off of a comic series written by John Wagner, and also based off of a 1995 film called Judge Dredd, which starred Sylvester Stallone and Rob “Stapler/Carrot” Schneider.  It was goofy.  Oh, so goofy.  And really, really stupid.  Want a quick review?  Skip it.  Trust me.  This version, however, stars Karl Urban, of Lord of the Rings and Star Trek fame, as the hardened street-judge named Dredd.  This is a post-apocalyptic universe where the only inhabitable area of the United States is between Boston and Washington D.C., and the police (called street-judges) work as judge, jury, and executioner.  Dredd and his new rookie Anderson are called in to look at a triple homicide and drug deal going down in the Peach Tree, one of the shadiest apartment complexes in the entire city.  Once inside, the leader of the biggest gang in town, Mama (Lena Headey), locks them in and sends out a building wide hit on the two cops.  The two judges have to try to take down Mama, while surviving in a 200 floor building with hundreds of people trying to kill them.

It’s difficult to talk about what’s “bad” about this movie, because there’s nothing that’s necessarily wrong with it.  I mean sure, the plot is basic and not at all thought provoking, but that’s not exactly the route this movie is taking.  Like The Avengers, there’s nothing to think about afterwards, accept how awesome the action was, and the plot is just used as a means to get to the action.  But unlike movies like Transformers, that annoy you for a solid hour and a half before they get you to the action, Dredd has action non-stop, along with cool characters and a nice, dark tone.  Immediately, you’re dropped into this world, which is crime-ridden and scary.  The only thing between innocent people and the criminals that roam the streets are street-judges, so you understand the burden that is placed upon these peace keepers instantly.  The character of Dredd is un-merciful and believes in strict justice.  He abides the law at all times, and takes his job to defend the streets extremely seriously.  This makes the character appealing, as he’s so cool and interesting.  You yearn to know more about his past, and it sucks you into the story.  His rookie Anderson is a bit more forgiving, and hesitates to obey the law when someone begs for mercy.  This makes her interesting in a slightly different way, and you truly feel for her.

And then there’s the action.  Dear Lord, the action is AWESOME!  It is truly reminiscent of the action movies from the late 80’s and early 90’s, even though it uses plenty of CGI.  It just has that kind of gritty feel that movies like Robocop and Die Hard had, that feeling of intense joy when you see someone getting ground up by many bullets entering their bodies.  This is not to say that the CGI is bad, however.  The CGI is very good, but I think what would have really put this movie into greatness, at least for me, would have been if they did it all with conventional effects.  The 3D was actually very good as well (although I am usually thoroughly opposed to it), and it was used to darken the tone even further.

I feel really, REALLY bad for this movie.  It did terribly at the box office.  And by that I mean it cost about fifty-million dollars to make this movie, and the movie made a total of about eleven-million at the box office.  A loss of 39 million is devastating to a director and writer, and I hope that those two pull back and make more movies in the future.  The movie is no longer out in the theatres (because it did so poorly), but I urge you to rent the movie on DVD when it comes out.  This movie deserves way more than it’s being given.  I give it 4 stars out of 5.