Dredd - DVD

Film: After the British comic book character Judge Dredd by writer John Wagner and cartoonist Carlos Ezquerra was already brought to life on the big screen in 1995 with Sylvester Stallone, but largely disappointed both fans and critics, in 2012 director Pete Travis again ventured to an adaptation of the dark vision of the future. In Dredd, Karl Urban (Lord of the Rings, Star Trek) dons the uniform of the Judge to enforce law and order in the metropolis of Mega City One. No easy feat, as criminal gangs, such as drug lord Ma-Ma's (Lena Headey, Game of Thrones) cartel, control much of the city. Al his new drug, which lets its users experience reality in extreme slow motion, makes the slum Ma-Ma rules unsafe, Dredd is tasked with taking on the drug lord along with new recruit, the telepathically inclined Cassandra Anderson (Oliver Thirlby). But no sooner have Dredd and Anderson entered the apartment block in which Ma-Ma resides than it is hermetically sealed off and a merciless war begins in which the number of victims seems to increase by the second. An escape is not to be thought. But Judge Dredd will do everything possible to fulfill his duty as judge and enforcer even in this bloody chaos.

Dredd is clearly trying to avoid the mistakes of the Stallone adaptation and stick more closely to the comic book template. Dredd not taking off his helmet, characters like Cassandra Anderson being carried over, or even the look of Mega City One are all aspects that this interpretation is trying to win fans favor with. The problem, however, is that the good aspects of the production are built into an extremely weak story. Ultimately, the story ends with the apartment block on lockdown, because from there on out, Dredd is one long shootout. Dredd and Anderson have to fight their way up floor after floor until they finally get to the heart of the complex, Ma-Ma's headquarters. This is very reminiscent of the Indonesian action surprise The Raid. This one undoubtedly had the better fight choreography and more effective moments of tension to offer, but still seemed quite tedious over time. With Dredd, this state of affairs sets in about halfway through its running time.

Admittedly, there are some quite excellent action and fight sequences. The monstrous skyscraper, the trist-futuristic look and a wonderfully over-the-top evil Lena Headey, aided by a handful of amusing one liners, keep the rather boring brutality entertainingly broken up. Also, the fact that the film comes across as absolutely consistent not only in its depiction of violence, but also in its departure from the rather epic narrative structure of the first film adaptation, must definitely be credited to the makers.

Even though Pete Travis and his team really made excellent use of the rather low budget they had at their disposal, that doesn't change the fact that Dredd rarely manages to really captivate, surprise or visually impress. Some good ideas, like the extreme slow motion sequences, are overused too much and other aspects, like the city outside the apartment block, are given too little time for there to be some nice showmanship here. So, all in all, the comic adaptation has a decent entertainment value and should be more convincing than Stallone's version. But this attempt to bring Judge Dredd to life on the big screen is not a big hit either. For this there is only one in the end: With deductions worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: Although the film is actually designed for a 3D evaluation, the 2D version can also convince visually. Some details even come into their own a little better in the darker sequences, as they are not swallowed up by the additional darkening that 3D unfortunately often brings with it. In general, it is noticeable that the good contrasts and the coherent black levels ensure that the image sharpness hardly has to accept any real loss of quality, even in the predominantly dark scenes. The colour scheme is kept rather subdued, with only the CGI blood splashed in powerful red every now and then.

The sound is in a powerful Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, which allows the sparse dialogue to ring out powerfully from the speakers. The numerous surround effects make for a very lively soundstage that keeps things cracking in the home theater. Good.

Extras: The bonus material reads more extensive than it actually is. The six featurettes, for example, which deal with the comic book template and the 3D effects, among other things, allow the viewer a combined look behind the scenes of just 14 minutes. And also the nine interviews with actors and makers (approx. 25 min.) offer nothing more than typical promo superficialities. The trailer to the film and other program tips of the provider then already conclude the additional offer.

Conclusion: Dredd avoids many of the mistakes made in the first film adaptation with Sylvester Stallone over 15 years ago in adapting the popular comic book template by writer John Wagner and cartoonist Carlos Ezquerra. But the sci-fi action thriller is only really successful in some moments. Tiring fight sequences, an exaggerated use of extreme slow motion shots and a script not exactly brimming with originality push the entertainment value noticeably down. Still, the film is fun enough in its own way and looks good enough to provide genre fans with an entertaining and enjoyable DVD evening. And for that then, despite the clear weaknesses, there is a deserved: recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp