Dredd

I got the latest Judge Dredd film on DVD starring Karl Urban. Not an actor I can say I am a fan of. Except in this film he came out very well.

Having never really got into Judge Dredd, but having read a fair amount whilst delivering newspapers, I knew Dredd was the monosyllabic quasi-fascist law giver in Mega-City 1. I’d seen the Stallone version in the 90’s and been unimpressed.  This version of Dredd is however much better.  So from a low starting point, I watched it on DVD (not 3-D) and liked it a lot.

Karl Urban played the character down to a T. The helmet never came off, all you got was a stompy Judge, with a stubbly chin dispensing justice with one liners.

Just as it should be.

The plot, such as it was, surficed to give Dredd and rookie Judge Anderson enough meat (literally) to get their teeth into. Both Dredd and Anderson were well played by the actors, as was Ma-Ma and her main acolytes. The irony and bitterness of Mega-City-1 were believable

The plot plays out well with a good range of surprises, and a reasonable level of violence – as in its not violence for violence’s sake necessarily. the conclusion is good and totally in keeping with Dredd’s character.

The film was not a great success at the box office, apparently the rebel colonists don’t know about Dredd, but has been a success on DVD, and Karl Urban is promoting it with a view for a sequel. Not a usual Dredd fan I would certainly recommend it (not for the faint hearted) and would welcome more films like this with its gritty violence.

I thought I was slightly OTT when it came to making sure my wargames tables were clear of extraneous rubbish. I was wrong.

Meat wagon inbound, and ready the iso-cubes the next time someone leaves cr@p on my wargames table.

Citizen, your crimes include multiple cases of rubbish on the wargames table, including dice left unattended, rulers, templates and rule books. Defence Noted.