This explosive sci fi flick was very dynamic.... and it was something that classic action fans will probably enjoy. Based upon the cult British comic character created back in 1977, Judge Dredd is the personification of hard justice, since he plays the role of an indifferent Judge, Jury and Executioner in his futuristic city setting. This movie was definitely better than the one that stared Sylvester Stallone, back in 1995.In the new Dredd 2012 Movie, within the Dystopian North American location of Mega-City-One, Judge Dredd [played by Karl Urban] and his rookie psychic apprentice [played by Olivia Thirlby] respond to a peculiar act of triple homicide in one of the massive 200-story buildings in their city, called the Peach Trees Slum Building - three men were tossed out of the balcony of the top floor by the evil female kingpin/drug dealer, who goes by the Moniker of Ma-Ma [played by Lena Heady, who was best known for playing the role of "Sara Connor" on the TV Series of Terminator, shown back in '08 - '09].
Anyway, being executors of justice, Judge Dredd and his rookie [who goes by the name of Judge Anderson] head into the 200-story building to find out who tossed down the three drugged men [who had lethal does of "slo-mo" infused into their bloodstreams] and the unbridled action unfolds from there. Ma-ma sends her right-hand-man to tackle the Judges, but that tough guy gets his candy-ass kicked by the stoic Dredd, right before the entire towering building is put on lockdown [all windows and exits are sealed with thick sliding blast-shields, the sort of thing that I assume was installed in the towering skyscrapers to protect from nuke-shockwaves], sealing-in the heroes and one of their captured suspects named Kay. So the heroes have to fight their way up to the top of the building, to face Ma-ma.
In the mind of many fans, Karl Urban is probably best known for his role as Lord Vaako [or Vakko] in the Chronicles of Riddick 2004 movie. And in that movie, he was married to the cunning and insidious Lady Vakko, played by Thandie Newton. It is rumored that Karl will be back in the role of Vakko in the next Riddick movie, which should be out in 2013. Olivia Thirlby is also shown below with Karl at the premier of the Dredd 2012 movie.
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BTW, Karl Urban wears his "Dark Dredd helmet" throughout the entire 2012 Dredd movie, so he was forced to utilize his body-language and the lower half of his face to express his unfolding emotions. But the thing is, he is so indifferent in the movie that his happy face, angry face, compassionate face and thoughtful face all look like the pic on the left side.... looks like a damn mugshot :) But don't be too had on him... check out the flashback pic of Sylvester Stallone acting as Judge Dredd, from the first Dredd movie back in 1995 shown on the right! Now that's a damn face that only a Judge's mother could love - hopefully.In the Dredd 2012 movie, the shoot-em-up action is intense from start to finish, and beyond the countless hordes of gun-totting cronies that work for Ma-Ma throughout the skyscraper, there are even crooked Judges that come against the heroic duo of Dredd and Anderson. Judge Dredd also has a bad-ass motorcycle that can project twin machine-guns from beside its front wheel.... too bad he couldn't use it inside the tall Peach Trees building. About 80% of the movie's action takes place within the vast 200-story skyscraper, which almost gives it a rather claustrophobic feel. But for the showcased theme of "cops hunting thugs and robbers", it still works; and the 3D feature makes many of the dynamic scenes to "pop" quite well.
Judge Dredd really is not a superhero, although he is a British comic book character. But he does have incredible strength and can lift hefty loads - or toss people like ragdolls. He also has an awesome sub-machine gun, which fires what looks like explosive rounds [which technically should be fired from some sort of huge M16 variant] and cluster bombs [which belong in the arsenal of a fighter jet's artillery system].Anyway, if you enjoyed movies Rambo: First Blood, Terminator, The Expendables 2 or even Starship Troopers [yes, I had to bring up that awful olddie], you'll probably enjoy Judge Dredd. I would have added the 2012 sci fi remake of Total Recall to the list.... but that one wasn't really good enough to make the cut, in terms of the plot.
Check out the Preview and posters from The Expendables 2 over HERE
And you can see the official wallpapers and behind the scenes posters from Total Recall over HERE