Dredd

This article is about the film. For the character on which it's based, see Judge Dredd. For other uses, see Judge Dredd (disambiguation).

Dredd
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Pete Travis
Written by	Alex Garland
Produced by	Alex Garland Andrew MacDonald Allon Reich
Starring	Karl Urban Olivia Thirlby Wood Harris Lena Headey
Cinematography	Anthony Dod Mantle
Edited by	Mark Eckersley
Music by	Paul Leonard-Morgan
Production companies	DNA Films IM Global Reliance Entertainment
Distributed by	Entertainment Film Distributors Lionsgate
Release dates	11 July 2012 (2012-07-11) (San-Diego Comic Con) 7 September 2012 (2012-09-07) (United Kingdom)
Running time	95 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom South Africa
Language	English
Budget	$45 million
Box office	$6.3 million

Dredd is a 2012 science fiction action film directed by Pete Travis and written by Alex Garland. The British/South African co-production is based on the 2000 AD comic strip Judge Dredd and its eponymous character created by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra. Karl Urban stars as Judge Dredd, a law enforcer given the power of judge, jury and executioner in the vast dystopian metropolis of Mega-City One that lies within a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Alongside rookie Judge Anderson (Olivia Thirlby), Dredd is forced to bring order to a feared 200-story slum and its resident drug lord, Ma-Ma (Lena Headey).

Garland began writing the script as early as 2006, although development of a new Judge Dredd film adaptation was not announced until December 2008, that would be unrelated to the 1995 film adaptation Judge Dredd. Principal photography began in November 2010, with an estimated US$45 million budget. The project was shot using 3D cameras throughout on practical sets, and on location in the South African cities of Cape Town and Johannesburg. Dredd was released on 7 September 2012 in the United Kingdom, and on 21 September 2012 worldwide.

Plot

The future United States is an irradiated waste land known as the Cursed Earth. On the east coast of North America lies Mega-City One, a vast, violent metropolis containing 800 million residents where 17,000 crimes are reported daily and "Slo-Mo", an addictive new drug that slows the user's perception of time to 1% of normal, has been introduced. The only force of order is the Judges, who act as judge, jury, and executioner. Judge Dredd is tasked by the Chief Judge with evaluating rookie Judge Anderson, a psychic who has failed the tests to become a full Judge. Elsewhere, in the 200-story slum tower block Peach Trees, drug lord Madeline Madrigal, known as Ma-Ma, infuses three men with Slo-Mo and throws their skinned bodies from the top of the tower. Dredd and Anderson respond and learn of a drug den, which they assault. They arrest Kay, one of Ma-Ma's henchmen, after Anderson psychically detects his involvement in the murders. To prevent Kay being removed from the building and interrogated about her operation, Ma-Ma's forces seize the tower's security control room and seal the building using its blast shields under the pretense of a security test, preventing the Judges from leaving or summoning help.

Ma-Ma orders Dredd's and Anderson's deaths. Several groups of armed men unsuccessfully try to kill the pair as the Judges proceed through the building with Kay to find safety. After arriving at one floor, the Judges are assaulted by Ma-Ma and her men using gatling guns that cut through the building's concrete walls and residents. The gunfire damages one of the tower's outer walls, allowing the Judges onto a balcony that enables them to call for backup. Ma-Ma sends her right-hand man Caleb to confirm the Judges' deaths. Dredd and Anderson, with no other avenue of escape, reenter the building. Dredd overcomes Caleb and throws him from the tower in view of Ma-Ma.

Enraged at Ma-Ma's massacre of the tower's innocent residents, Dredd beats Kay for information. Anderson intervenes and uses her abilities to read Kay's mind. She learns Peach Trees is the center of Slo-Mo production and distribution. Anderson suggests they hide while awaiting assistance but Dredd insists on moving up the tower in pursuit of Ma-Ma. Judges Volt and Guthrie respond to Dredd's call, but are unable to access the tower when Ma-Ma's computer expert persuades the pair that call is part of the security drill. While Dredd and Anderson are confronted by armed children, Kay escapes his bonds and takes Anderson hostage. He escapes with her in an elevator to Ma-Ma's base on the 200th floor.

While Dredd works his way toward Ma-Ma, she calls on the aid of corrupt Judges Lex, Kaplan, Chan, and Alvarez to kill Dredd. After meeting Chan, Dredd notices that he does not ask about Anderson's status, instigating a fight in which Chan is killed. Kay is killed when he attempts to execute Anderson with her own weapon, triggering an explosive failsafe when it does not recognize its wielder. Anderson escapes and meets Kaplan, whom she kills after reading her mind. Elsewhere, Dredd kills Alvarez but runs out of ammunition and is shot by Lex. Anderson arrives and kills Lex as he prepares to finish Dredd. The pair obtain the code to Ma-Ma's apartment and confront the drug lord. Anderson is wounded by one of Ma-Ma's men. Ma-Ma informs Dredd a device on her wrist will detonate explosives on the top floors upon her death and destroy the building. Dredd, believing the signal will not reach the top floor's explosives through the tower's concrete floors and walls from below, infuses Ma-Ma with Slo-Mo and throws her from the building to her death. In the aftermath. Anderson accepts she has failed her evaluation by being disarmed, and leaves. The Chief Judge asks Dredd about Anderson's performance. He responds that she has passed.

Cast

• Karl Urban as Judge Joseph Dredd:

A famed and feared Judge, possessing the powers of Judge, Jury and Executioner. Producer Allon Reich described Dredd as "an extreme character, and he administers justice with an extreme lack of prejudice." Urban himself approached the producers about joining the film. He found the role challenging as the character never removes his helmet, requiring Urban to convey emotion without the use of his eyes. He approached the character as an average man with an insanely tough job in a fragmenting society, likening his heroism to that of a fireman. The role also demanded physical preparation, and Urban undertook intensive physical training to become a "beast of a man", as well as weapons and technical training to learn how to operate when under fire, how to arrest criminals and breach doors. He insisted on performing his own bike stunts for realism. For Dredd's voice, he attained a raspy and harsh tone akin to "a saw cutting through bone" that he found difficult to sustain.

• Olivia Thirlby as Judge Cassandra Anderson:

A rookie Judge and genetic mutant with powerful psychic abilities. Her abilities cause her to sense the emotions of others. Thirlby contrasted her character with Dredd's "black and white" perspective, describing Anderson as existing "in a grey area where everything is enhanced or clouded by the fact she knows what is going on in the very interior of a person". She undertook weapons and combat training including learning how to perform a roundhouse kick to make her believably physically commanding. The character was partially inspired by singer Debbie Harry.

• Lena Headey as Madelaine "Ma-Ma" Magrigal:

A former prostitute turned drug lord and criminal kingpin who is the sole supplier of a new addictive drug, Slo-Mo. Her performance was inspired by punk-rock singer Patti Smith. Reich described the character as someone who does "not care at all about what anybody thinks or feels and she will do, and behave, as she wants." Discussing her character, Headey said: "I think of her like an old great white shark who is just waiting for someone bigger and stronger to show up and kill her... she’s ready for it. In fact, she can't wait for it to happen... She's an addict, so she's dead in that way, but that last knock just hasn't come." Before Headey's casting, the character was described as a heavily made-up and scarred, obese, older woman. Her real name is Madelaine Madrigal.

• Wood Harris as Kay:

Ma-Ma's clansman. Harris described the character as a villain, but one that sees himself as no worse than the Judges. Harris said: "...Dredd goes around literally judging and killing people if they do wrong... Anyone who goes against the system might end up the bad guy. So I think Kay has justified fighting that in his mind."

The cast also includes: Domhnall Gleeson as the gang's unnamed computer expert, credited as the "clan techie"; Warrick Grier as Caleb, Ma-Ma's right hand man; Langley Kirkwood, Edwin Perry, Karl Thaning and Michele Levin as, respectively, Judge Lex, Judge Alvarez, Judge Chan and Judge Kaplan, corrupt Judges in Ma-Ma's employ; Junior Singo as Amos and Luke Tyler as Freel, two young boys who confront Dredd; Jason Cope as Zwirner; Joe Vaz as Big Joe and Scott Sparrow as Japhet, members of Ma-Ma's gang; Francis Chouler as Judge Guthrie; Rakie Ayola as the Chief Judge; Deobia Oparei as TJ, the Peach Trees paramedic; and Daniel Hadebe as Judge Volt.

Production

Development

Development on a new film was first announced on 20 December 2008 as an independent project under British studio DNA Films. DNA Films collaborated with sales agency IM Global to sell the distribution rights to the film globally. In September 2009, it was confirmed that Alex Garland was writing the film and that Judge Dredd comic artist Jock was developing concept art for scenes in the script. However, by October 2009, there was no director attached to the film. Development moved forward in May 2010, as it was announced that Reliance Big Pictures and its subsidiary IM Global would co-finance DNA Films' 3-D project with a $45 million budget and a schedule to begin filming in late 2010 in the city of Johannesburg. It was also announced that Pete Travis would direct the film and that Garland, Andrew MacDonald and Allon Reich would serve as producers. Duncan Jones had previously been given an offer to direct. In September 2010, it was reported that the film's official title would be Dredd.

During the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September 2010, the film attracted $30 million in worldwide pre-sales to distributors before filming had even begun, reaching 90% of the available theatrical markets. The sales included a $7 million deal with British distributor Entertainment Film Distributors. On 2 November 2010, Lionsgate secured the North American distribution rights to Dredd. Judge Dredd creator John Wagner acted as a consultant on the film. In 2012 he confirmed that the film was a new adaptation of the comic material and was not a remake or reboot of the 1995 adaptation Judge Dredd starring Sylvester Stallone. In July 2011, the film was scheduled for a theatrical release on 21 September 2012 in North America.

Pre-production commenced on 23 August 2010 at Cape Town Film Studios in Cape Town, South Africa. During the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International in July, Urban confirmed that he had been offered the role of Judge Dredd and by 18 August 2010 it was reported that Urban officially had the role. In September 2010, it was announced that Thirlby would play the part of Dredd's telepathic rookie Cassandra Anderson. Headey joined the cast as drug-dealer Ma-Ma in January 2011.

Writing

"...what John [Wagner] does [in the comic] is have Dredd evolve, in the way that a glacier moves: you look a year later and something actually has shifted! I tried to be true to that."

Alex Garland concerning writing Dredd's character.

Garland began writing Dredd in 2006 during post-production of Sunshine and completed his first draft during filming of 28 Weeks Later. Garland's draft revolved around one of Dredd's prominent enemies, the undead Judge Death. He described the story as a "riff on the whole Judge system", but that it did not work because the Judge system had not yet been established, requiring too much knowledge about the Judge Dredd comic from the audience. He also considered the end result too surreal and extreme. From this script, Garland decided that the story needed to be more focused and grounded. He instead considered adapting some of the notable Judge Dredd storylines including "Democracy" (1986) and "Origins" (2006), but he ultimately decided to avoid the long, epic nature of these tales in favour of a shorter, day-in-the-life story about Dredd and his function as a cop in the dystopian Mega City One. For Judge Dredd himself, Garland attempted to closely follow the comic Dredd's nature of undergoing only small personality changes over a length of time. He said: " I didn’t think Dredd could have a great epiphany, but there is definitely a change in him over the course of the movie. He makes a very clear statement at the beginning of the film which he then contradicts at the end. That’s about as far as the shift goes." Garland intentionally gave the traditional character development to Anderson instead to compensate.

Discussing setting the film within the "Peach Tree Block" tower, Garland described the buildings as "like micro city states... you could live and die in those buildings". He also considered that it met Wagner's suggestion that Dredd's future should relate to modern ways of living. Garland drew the tower's name from "The Peach Tree" restaurant in which he first met with Wagner. The budget limited his ability to represent some of the comic aspects of Mega City One such as robots and aliens. Throughout the production, Garland would send his script to Wagner who would revise some of the dialogue, which Urban would then further revise during his performance.

Filming

On a $45 million budget, filming began on 12 November 2010 in Cape Town, South Africa, and took place over approximately 13 weeks, with second unit photography occurring over 7 weeks. Filming locations also included Johannesburg and Cape Town Film Studios in Cape Town. The film was shot digitally and primarily in 3D using RED MX, SI2K, and Phantom Flex highspeed cameras, and multiple camera rigs in operation on the principal and second units. The film also contains some elements that were converted to 3D in post production.

DNA Films' co-founder Andrew Macdonald brought in cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle to manage the shoot, his first time working with 3D. The filmmakers wanted Dredd to have a "visceral" and realistic look and so turned to the stylish atmospheres of classic crime and gangster films for inspiration. For scenes conveying the time and space altering effects of Slo-Mo, Dod Mantle aimed to create an image that would be beautiful but disorienting.

The volatile Mega City One and its high rises were created in Cape Town Film Studios. A key sequence involving Ma-Ma and her gang killing hundreds of people while attempting to kill Judge Dredd required ten days of filming and eight different sets inside and outside the Cape Town studio which were then blended together with visual effects. Dod Mantle had to develop new rigs to obtain close-up shots. Describing the aesthetic he aimed to achieve, he said: "I hope it will be more painterly. If we get it right, it will be a cross between Blade Runner and Clockwork Orange." Garland was a constant presence on the shoot, with Urban admitting that he would turn to Garland for direction instead of Travis.

Design

For Dredd's appearance it was decided that he should appear more lean and fast like a boxer rather than bulky like "someone who spends hours sort of steroiding himself up." His Judge uniform was altered from the comic version, including the removal of an extruded eagle statuette from his shoulder pad to emphasise the outfit's functionality and grant it a sense of realism. Garland said: "If you did a very faithful adaptation of the uniform you'd have someone who if he got stabbed in the stomach he’d be in big trouble. Dredd is out there on the frontline so he needed protection." Remaining faithful to the comic, Judge Dredd's face, except for his mouth, is never shown and he keeps his helmet on throughout the film, obscuring all but his mouth and chin. Urban said: "He is supposed to be the faceless representative of the law and I think that is part of his enigma ... You wouldn't get to the end of a Sergio Leone Western and go, 'God, I didn't even know the character's name!' It's irrelevant."

Dredd's signature weapon, the "Lawgiver" was developed as a fully operational weapon based on a 9mm firing system, capable of firing ammunition and being changed from automatic to semi-auto fire. His bike "Lawmaster" was a modified 500cc bike. A large frame was added over the bike with machine guns, an extended wheel base and the largest functional tyres possible. The vehicle was also operational and Urban insisted on riding it himself rather than relying on green screen visual effects. Wagner described the necessity for adaptation from the source material, describing the 1995 film's attempt at directly replicating the comic bike as unable to steer because the tyres were too large.

Garland and VFX supervisor Jon Thum began developing the Slo-Mo concept sequences in 2009 during filming for Never Let Me Go. They experimented with the hallucinogenic induced visual effect to see how long it could be used before it distracted the viewer from the active story or action sequence. They continued to develop and modify the effect until the end of post-production, tweaking colours and colour saturation, the framing of the image and the movement of the camera. Garland said the concept was inspired by nature documentaries that used high-speed photography to capture animals in slow motion. He said: "You see a whale or a shark breach the water... then you'd stop thinking about the animal and you get transfixed by... how water droplets connect and touch against each other. Somehow like a real [drug] trip, sort of stepping outside it but staying attached at the same time." He questioned if the technique could be used with violence to make it purely an aesthetic. He said "Can it be so abstract that it becomes genuinely beautiful? ...really aesthetically beautiful even if someone is having their cheek blown out or their head crushing into concrete."

Post-production

The filmmakers experimented with the visuals of Mega City One including the design and positioning of the city's tower blocks. They found that replicating the comic visuals of blocks close together, it made them appear small and lacking in scale and instead chose to give the buildings more space to emphasise the larger buildings and allow for the presence of roads and cars to allow for extrapolation outside of the picture.

On 7 October 2011, the Los Angeles Times reported that Travis was prohibited from participating in the editing process following creative disagreements between producers and executives. The editing process was taken over by writer Garland, whose contribution was considered to be significant enough that he could seek a co-director credit—a situation considered unusual as Garland had never directed a film before and had not been in charge of any filming. The disagreement was said to have concerned disapproval over the footage that Travis was providing. Although Travis was removed from the editing process he was said to have still been monitoring the progress of the film. On 10 October, Travis and Garland released a joint statement claiming that they had agreed on an "unorthodox collaboration" before production began, that Travis was still involved in the film, and that Garland was not seeking a co-director credit.

Music

Paul Leonard-Morgan provided the industrial film score. Leonard-Morgan attempted to create a sound that would fit in the far future setting. He initially experimented with band-based music, but found it sounded over-produced and too safe a choice. He turned to electronic music, using his compositions from the 1980s and his modern sound modules to create various combinations and then applying distortion and other effects to the result. Leonard-Morgan said: "I was looking to create a timeless score which couldn't be placed in any particular era. So it's ended up being a cross between a modern dance track and evocative soundscapes." For scenes conveying the effect of the Slo-Mo narcotic, he composed new music with real instruments and then slowed the songs down by thousands of percent to match the visuals, such that 1 second of his composed score could last 10 minutes. He then added additional real-time score to the slowed track.

The film also features songs by other artists, including: "Poison Lips" by Vitalic; "Dubstride" by Yann McCullough and Gemma Kicks; "Snuffbox" by Matt Berry; "Pontiac Moon" by Robert J. Walsh; and "Jubilee (Don't Let Nobody Turn You Around)" by Bobby Womack.

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"She's a Pass"	Paul Leonard-Morgan	3:16
2.	"Mega City One"	Paul Leonard-Morgan	3:13
3.	"The Plan"	Paul Leonard-Morgan	2:37
4.	"The Rise Of Ma-Ma"	Paul Leonard-Morgan	1:55
5.	"Anderson's Theme"	Paul Leonard-Morgan	2:37
6.	"Lockdown"	Paul Leonard-Morgan	2:46
7.	"Cornered"	Paul Leonard-Morgan	2:17
8.	"Kay Escapes"	Paul Leonard-Morgan	3:17
9.	"Mini-Guns"	Paul Leonard-Morgan	2:02
10.	"Undefined Space"	Paul Leonard-Morgan	1:17
11.	"Bad Judges"	Paul Leonard-Morgan	2:03
12.	"Judgment Time"	Paul Leonard-Morgan	1:52
13.	"Hiding Out"	Paul Leonard-Morgan	2:23
14.	"Order in the Chaos"	Paul Leonard-Morgan	1:16
15.	"Slo-Mo"	Paul Leonard-Morgan	1:27
16.	"Taking Over Peach Trees"	Paul Leonard-Morgan	1:27
17.	"It's All A Deep End"	Paul Leonard-Morgan	2:20
18.	"Judge, Jury and Executioner"	Paul Leonard-Morgan	2:18
19.	"Any Last Requests"	Paul Leonard-Morgan	3:25
20.	"You Look Ready"	Paul Leonard-Morgan	1:38
21.	"Ma-Ma's Requiem"	Paul Leonard-Morgan	3:37
22.	"Apocalyptic Wasteland"	Paul Leonard-Morgan	2:24

Marketing

The first images of the film were revealed on 19 November 2010. In August 2012, the viral site "Dredd Report" was launched, satirizing the Drudge Report. The site featured links to news, and a video condemning the use of the fictional Slo-Mo drug. A tie in comic book written by Judge Dredd Megazine editor Matt Smith and art by 2000 AD artist Henry Flint was released on 5 September 2012. The plot serves as a prequel to the events of the film and follows Ma-Ma as a prostitute under her pimp Lester Grimes who inflicted her facial scar. Ma-Ma enters a relationship with a man named Eric who creates Slo-Mo. Lester kills Eric for interfering with his business and Ma-Ma castrates Lester with her teeth in retaliation, leaving her with the Slo-Mo operation. An exclusive film poster featuring artwork by Jock was released by Mondo for sale to promote the film's appearance at the 2012 Fantastic Fest in September.

Release

Dredd premiered at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International (SDCC) on 11 July 2012. It was also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on 6 September 2012, and is scheduled to be shown at the 2012 Fantastic Fest in late September. The film was first theatrically released on 7 September 2012 in the United Kingdom, and on 21 September 2012 worldwide.

Box office

As of September 18, 2012, the film has earned £2,725,180.

In the United Kingdom, Dredd grossed £1.05 million ($1.7 million) from 415 cinemas during its opening weekend. This made it the weekend's number 1 film and the first film restricted to audiences over 18 years of age to place number 1 since Saw 3D in 2010. In its second weekend, the film placed number 5 with £769,381.

In North America, pre-release tracking estimated that the film would gross between $8 and $10 million during its opening weekend based on its adult-rating and the poor reputation of the 1995 adaptation. The film opened in 2,506 cinemas and earned $2.2 million through its opening day.

Critical reception

The film has garnered a 77% approval rating from 106 critics – an average rating of 6.5 out of 10 – on the review-aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, which said, "Fueled by bombastic violence and impressive special effects, rooted in self-satire and deadpan humor, Dredd is a rare example of a remake that actually works." Metacritic provides a score of 57 out of 100 from 27 critics, which indicates "mixed or average" reviews. CinemaScore polls reported that the average grade moviegoers gave the film was a "B" on a scale of A+ to F.

Dredd's premiere screening at the 2012 Comic Con International received positive reviews. IGN awarded the film 8 out of ten and said, "Dredd is a character study, primarily, one fuelled by violence and action, and we can't think of a better way to re-introduce this character to cinema audiences." IndieWire said, "As Dredd, Urban either has a better character to play than [Sylvester Stallone] did, or simply has a better grasp on what makes him tick, but the actor continues to distinguish himself as a versatile performer who turns mimicry into emotional meaning." Empire's Chris Hewitt scored the film 3 out of 5 stars. He praised Urban's Dredd as something the film gets "absolutely, incontrovertibly right... a deadpan delight—he doesn't grow as a person and he doesn't crack wise... the movie generates its few laughs from his sheer intractability... it's a role that has to be handled with care, and luckily Urban is excellent." Hewitt also called Thirlby engaging, and of the film said "it's a solid, occasionally excellent take on [Judge Dredd], with Urban's chin particularly impressive." Variety's Geoff Berkshire positively contrasted the film against the 1995 adaptation. Berkshire said that Urban effectively portrayed his character's "mythic" qualities as a "badass of few words". He also praised Thirlby for carrying the film's emotional story, stating "one of the film's true thrills comes in watching Thirlby effortlessly balance the conflict between a Judge's merciless duties and a psychic's compassionate understanding."

Entertainment Weekly's Darren Franich said that the film is a "darkly funny blood-soaked romp" and singled out Urban for his "credibly wry performance using little more than his gravelly, imitation-Eastwood voice — and his chin." The Hollywood Reporter's Stephen Dalton considered that the "dark, ironic, very British humour of the original strip" was largely absent from the film and that the limited location may disappoint fans of the book. Dalton also felt that Urban's performance, while close to the book, was lacking something. Overall, however, Dalton said that "pitched at the right level to please original fans, but still slick and accessible enough to attract new ones, [Dredd] feels like a smart and muscular addition to the sci-fi action genre." The Guardian's Phelim O'Neill scored the film 4 stars out of 5. O'Neill praised Urban's performance, saying: "The essence of Dredd is that he is almost an anti-character—he doesn't change or learn—and Urban nails it in an ego-free performance with half his head obscured by a helmet." O'Neill's review focused on his criticism of other adaptations that are changed when translated to film, and said that Dredd avoids this issue, saying "In a world of compromised adaptations, Dredd is something of a triumph."

Many U.S. newspaper critics were less taken with the film. Mark Olsen of the Los Angeles Times called it "a clunk-headed action picture" that "simply becomes a monotonous series of bad-guy confrontations." Frank Lovece of Newsday described it as "soullessly gritty ... all tough-guy talk and humorless cynicism — which is odd since the comics feature, running since 1977 in the weekly anthology 2000 AD, is largely a satire of this kind of story, with deliberately over-the-top attitudes that anticipated the satirical violence and societal corporatization of RoboCop." Kyle Smith, film critic of the normally conservative New York Post, nonetheless found the police tactics distasteful, opining, "Justice is supposed to be blind, but in this case I think what the Law really wants is unaccountability. ... We are asked to believe Dredd and Co. are all that stands between us and chaos, but the chief crime of the evildoers seems principally to be that they like to smoke a drug called 'slo-mo' that makes time pass at 1 percent of its actual speed (or four times as fast as this thudding, repetitive movie)." Stephen Whitty of The Star-Ledger asked, "[W]hat's here to draw us in? The same old damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't politics (which suggests the only choice is between criminal anarchy or fascist vigilantism)? The same old look of crumbling Stalinist architecture and shiny Nazi leather?"

The visual effects and slow-motion sequences induced by the fictional Slo-Mo narcotic received consistent praise. Berkshire said that they are notable and "eye-catching" with "impressively utilized 3d." Hewitt praised the visuals as "genuinely surreal splashes of heightened colour that... don’t outstay their welcome. The film's use of 3D is often excellent (including the credits) and it really comes to life in the Slo-mo scenes". Dalton said the film "constantly impresses on a visual level, with a gritty style more akin to cult hits like District 9 or 28 Days Later than to standard Hollywood comic-book blockbusters." Concerning Dod Mantle's work, Dalton said "His first venture into 3D is a blaze of saturated colours, gorgeous high-resolution close-ups and dazzling slow-motion sequences."

Judge Dredd creator John Wagner had been critical of the 1995 adaptation, but positively received Dredd. He said: "I liked the movie. It was, unlike the first film, a true representation of Judge Dredd... Karl Urban was a fine Dredd and I'd be more than happy to see him in the follow-up. Olivia Thirlby excelled as Anderson... The character and storyline are pure Dredd."

Sequel

At the London Film and Comic Con in July 2012, Garland said that a North American gross in excess of $50 million for Dredd would potentially allow for sequels. Garland said that he had plans for a trilogy of films with a second film focusing on the origins of Dredd and his city, and a third introducing Dredd's nemesis, the undead Judge Death and his Dark Judges. In August 2012, he also mentioned that a Judge Dredd television series would be a positive future step for the series. In September 2012, Garland further expanded his sequel concepts. He said that he would explore the "Origins" and "Democracy" storylines and introduce the villains Judge Cal and Chopper. He also said that he would pursue the concept that Judge Dredd is a fascist. Also in September, Macdonald said that further films would be made in partnership with IM Global and would likely be again shot in South Africa.

References

Documents

• "Dredd Production Notes". Lions Gate Publicity. Lions Gate Entertainment. Archived from the original (DOC) on 3 September 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

External links

• Official website
• Dredd at IMDb
• Dredd at Box Office Mojo
• Dredd at Rotten Tomatoes
• Dredd at Metacritic