Hey everyone, this is Jedd, a writer and film critic from Singapore. I met Mark at STGCC 2012, and he very kindly invited me to contribute to Geekmatic! For my inaugural post, I have for you guys a movie review of the new film 'Dredd', based on the iconic 2000 AD Comics series.
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Originally written For F*** Magazine, Singapore
Movie Review 18/9/12
DREDD
2012
Starring: Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Lena Headey
Directed by: Pete Travis
2012 has been quite the year for marquee-name superheroes: Batman, Spider-Man, the Avengers…they’ve all made quite the splash. Now, along comes the underdog: Judge Dredd, not from big guns DC or Marvel, but British sci-fi comics imprint 2000 AD. Judge Joseph Dredd has made it to the big screen once before in 1995’s Judge Dredd – though that left quite the bitter taste in the mouths of many a 2000 AD devotee. Now, everyone’s favourite helmeted future lawman hops back astride his lawmaster motorbike and into cinemas.
Our story takes place in Mega-City One, a sprawling, chaotic hellhole of a megapolis on the east coast of what was once North America. The only thing keeping the peace? The Judges of the Hall of Justice, specially trained and equipped men and women who form an ultra-police force of sorts. Joseph Dredd (Urban) is one such Judge, and today he’s tasked with assessing newbie Judge Cassandra Anderson (Thirlby) by taking her out for her first day in the field. She may not look like she has what it takes, but Anderson is a powerful psychic empath, her skills a valuable asset to the Judges. Dredd and Anderson go to investigate a triple homicide in the mega-apartment complex Peach Trees, arresting clansman Kay (Wood Harris) - only to find themselves trapped in the locked-down building by the ruthless drug lord Ma-Ma (Headey), Ma-Ma bent on ensuring the Judges have no chance to take Kay to interrogation. It’s 200 storeys of hell for Dredd and Anderson – and judgement day for the scores of Ma-Ma’s henchmen out for their blood.
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There’s no doubt about it: time travel has been something that’s fascinated the public consciousness for quite a while now. From H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine to Back to the Future to The Time-Traveller’s Wife, it seems authors and filmmakers have tapped into mankind’s almost primal desire to transcend the boundaries of time. It could be compared to mankind’s almost primal desire to fly. But while we’ve kinda achieved flight by way of heavier-than-air flying machines, time travel is still something that is quite elusive, to say the least.
