Doctor-Warlock
Mongoose
Characterization 8/10 - As far as I am concerned, I loved both Karl Urban and Olivia Thirlby in their roles. Urban was spot on - tough, clinical, and uncompromising. Thirlby was a really solid choice for Anderson, although she lacked the confidence of Anderson from the Comics to a certain extent - but here we were seeing a different Anderson, someone who's just starting out and not entirely confident with her powers yet. Both of them were excellent IMHO. Lena Headey was "okay" as Ma-Ma - she could have been better, although to a certain extent I feel that's as much the fault of the Director as the Actor.
UPON SAYING THAT the plot kinda got in the way of any character exposition - we are bombarded with ultra-violent images, peoples cheeks being blown out etc - which seem to go on for an eternity at a time (and yes, I know that was part of the "schtick" with the Slo-Mo drug, but come one - sometimes its too much).
Setting 6/10 - Some of it was lovely, the inside of the Mega Block for example - I did get the feeling that someone could spend their entire life inside such a structure. The long-shots of the city were great, but on the whole the "outside" looked like a modern-day demilitarized zone (even though Johannesburg fits the image of the "at-war with itself" future city really well) - OK the budget wasn't that big, but the modern-day "look" kinda killed it for me.
Costumes & Props 7/10 - Dredds Helmet, Costume, and Gun were the Biz. I didn't mind the smaller shoulder pads (I know some people have moaned and whined about them) as they were going for a more "realistic" feel to them. The Bike - not so much. It wasn't so much of a "Lawmaster", as a "Law-Moped" - sorry to fans of the Bike, but that just didn't cut it for me. Neither did the modern-day vehicles - it was like the prop guys just stopped trying at that point FFS.
Direction etc 7/10 - Whilst I felt that Travis really knew what he was doing with the action scenes, I felt that he lost his way when directing his actors. They were always standing awkwardly, as if they weren't sure of what they were doing. Lena Headey didn't come over as angry or in charge, but she seemed to be reading her lines matter of factly off an idiot board - a good Director would have spotted that early on, and tried to guide his actors better. I would have liked to have seen fewer exploding faces and more story/character development personally - I don't mind seeing violence in movies - when its done well, and drives the story line along (to a certain extent, the master of this is Quentin Tarantino for me) - but often these scenes in DREDD seem gratuitous, and with no other reason for being there other than to fill the time on the screen and offer opportunities for 3D Effects.
Did I enjoy it - yes, of course I did.
Could it have been better - unfortunately, once again the answer is yes.
Overall - 7/10
UPON SAYING THAT the plot kinda got in the way of any character exposition - we are bombarded with ultra-violent images, peoples cheeks being blown out etc - which seem to go on for an eternity at a time (and yes, I know that was part of the "schtick" with the Slo-Mo drug, but come one - sometimes its too much).
Setting 6/10 - Some of it was lovely, the inside of the Mega Block for example - I did get the feeling that someone could spend their entire life inside such a structure. The long-shots of the city were great, but on the whole the "outside" looked like a modern-day demilitarized zone (even though Johannesburg fits the image of the "at-war with itself" future city really well) - OK the budget wasn't that big, but the modern-day "look" kinda killed it for me.
Costumes & Props 7/10 - Dredds Helmet, Costume, and Gun were the Biz. I didn't mind the smaller shoulder pads (I know some people have moaned and whined about them) as they were going for a more "realistic" feel to them. The Bike - not so much. It wasn't so much of a "Lawmaster", as a "Law-Moped" - sorry to fans of the Bike, but that just didn't cut it for me. Neither did the modern-day vehicles - it was like the prop guys just stopped trying at that point FFS.
Direction etc 7/10 - Whilst I felt that Travis really knew what he was doing with the action scenes, I felt that he lost his way when directing his actors. They were always standing awkwardly, as if they weren't sure of what they were doing. Lena Headey didn't come over as angry or in charge, but she seemed to be reading her lines matter of factly off an idiot board - a good Director would have spotted that early on, and tried to guide his actors better. I would have liked to have seen fewer exploding faces and more story/character development personally - I don't mind seeing violence in movies - when its done well, and drives the story line along (to a certain extent, the master of this is Quentin Tarantino for me) - but often these scenes in DREDD seem gratuitous, and with no other reason for being there other than to fill the time on the screen and offer opportunities for 3D Effects.
Did I enjoy it - yes, of course I did.
Could it have been better - unfortunately, once again the answer is yes.
Overall - 7/10
