Dredd (2012) - This Is What I'm Talking About.

★★★★☆

Sylvester Stallone’s ‘Judge Dredd’ is nothing worth remembering. ‘Dredd’ is however, a whole lot better cinematic experience. The story reminds me of ‘TheRaid: Redemption’, an Indonesian action film in which cops are trapped in a building controlled by a sicko. And they have to kill their mercy and fight their way out using unique physical combat skills. Western viewers love it, but I find it boring and impractical. The plot is quite the same, but ‘Dredd’ is visually more engaging!

In ‘Dredd’, two Judges face a life-and-death situation. Karl Urban’s Judge Dredd never shows his face in the film. Cool! Although Judges don’t know martial arts, they’ve got a very special gun loaded with different destructive bullets. Guess what if a bad guy points this gun right back at the Judge? Cooler! And the coolest thing is the jaw-dropping visual effects. Hands down! Every time the slo-mo drug is triggered, pictures become mesmerizing. The mood is right set up, the pace well controlled, the actions powerful and stunning. Some complain about its bloody scenes. I complain about its lack of perceptions of justice, violence against criminals, law and order in a chaotic world losing it. As an action film, ‘Dredd’ satisfies nonetheless.

Speaking of violence, I think of a quote: why do we shoot those who shoot people just to teach them that shooting is wrong? See? What a vicious circle! You practice violence. You get punished. Then you learn and you won’t do it again. That’s the logic. Yes, but the thing is, what you learn is not that violence is wrong, but that violence works! Like Albert Einstein said, if people are good only because they fear punishment, then we are a sorry lot indeed. Yes, we are. And we can’t seem to help it at all!