In the future, the police sends Judges who arrest and sentence criminals, but can only cover 6% of all the crimes reported. Judge Dredd gets a new partner, Cassandra Anderson, a psychic, and they both get the assignment to investigate the murder of three people who were thrown from the top of Peach Trees, a huge apartment building. They arrest criminal Kay, but the building is run by drug dealer Ma-Ma, an ex-prostitute, who shuts down the entire building and orders all the inhabitants to attack and kill Dredd and Anderson. The two police enforcers thus climb with Kay floor by floor, in order to get to Ma-Ma on the top of the 200-storey building. Kay is sought after since he can testify that Ma-Ma is producing the new drug, "Slo-Mo". In the end, Dredd and Anderson manage to reach the top and throw Ma-Ma from the building, killing her.
This second live action film adaptation of the comic-books "Judge Dredd" is regarded as better than the 1st one directed by D. Cannon in '95—a tight storyline, fast pace and a concise direction by Pete Travis are the main virtues of this 'hard-boiled' action flick. "Dredd" is very violent and brutal at times (the slow-motion sequence of Dredd shooting a criminal through its cheeks; people thrown from the top of the building and forced to experience their death in slow-motion due to the drug "Slo-Mo" that makes their brain slow down), which undermines and narrows its scope, yet the main protagonist is something like a variation of Robocop—he embodies the rule of law and follows it to the fullest, treating pacifist people in a peaceful way, and violent people in a violent way, each the way they deserve. In the opening act, a criminal takes a woman as a hostage and expects to use her as a human shield to escape, but Dredd shows his characteristic integrity when he agrees to have a negotiation, saying: "Release the hostage, unharmed, and I guarantee you a sentence of life in an iso-cube, without parole". The criminal is angry at that remark: "That's the deal you're offering?", but Dredd assures him: "If you do not comply, the sentence is death." Karb Urban is effective as Dredd, though he never takes his helmet off, and Olivia Thirlby is excellent as the 'tough' police girl Anderson who never succumbs to the role of a victim. The main villain is a woman, Ma-Ma (Lena Headey), giving a refreshing feminist touch. The set-up of Dredd and Anderson climbing up in a sealed-off apartment building is reminiscent of the thriller "The Raid", giving a neat suspense-rush. It is sad that the movie lacks humor, such as in the delicious sequence where a wounded Dredd says "Wait!" to his nemesis, and is a tad too 'hard core' at times, yet "Dredd" offers enough to satisfy action fans.
Grade:++
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