BEFORE: For once, I'm going to watch two versions of the same story back-to-back. I missed out on chances to watch two versions of "The Great Gatsby" and "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" in a row, so I'm putting the two Judge Dredd adapations together, even though I don't have any direct linking between them.
I've also got an eye on the cast of the upcoming "Star Wars" film, because if I want to link to it in December, I've got to keep at least one linking option open. I watched a few films with Harrison Ford in late February and felt another door closing, as it does tonight. I've still got Oscar Isaacs and Max von Sydow to get me there - von Sydow appears in this film, but he was also in "The Exorcist" and "Interstellar", two films I'd like to see, so I can still use him later on. In fact I'm going to use "Star Wars: Episode VII" as a link between Domnhall Gleason from "Dredd" and Max von Sydow (last seen in "Never Say Never Again"). I know the new Star Wars doesn't come out until December, but these are my rules, so the linking counts.
(Alternately, Karl Urban from "Dredd" was also in "RED" with James Remar.)
THE PLOT: In a dystopian future, Joseph Dredd, the most famous Judge is convicted for a crime he did not commit while his murderous counterpart escapes.
AFTER: I was all prepared to give this film the benefit of the doubt - surely it can't be as bad as its reputation suggests, can it? Maybe it's just one of those comic-book films that had the misfortune of being released before "X-Men" made comic book films cool. It can't be any worse than the 2013 Dredd reboot, can it? Well, it turns out that it can.
I was not able to finish this film in one go, I fell asleep, which is always a bad sign, and I had to finish today after work. with the aid of a large iced mocha coffee. Sometimes my body just rejects a film and decides that spending the next two hours sleeping is a much better idea - in this case, I'm inclined to agree. And if I have to go to Wikipedia or IMDB to find out the plot of the film I just watched, that's another warning sign.
Again, it's the same twisted logic, or lack thereof. The Earth is a vast wasteland, except for this city over here, which seems to be doing relatively OK. And the Judges, an elite fighting force, are in control of things, except for the people who still want to do evil things. The villain manages to take out like 100 of them in 48 hours, so how much of an elite force were they to begin with?
It gets worse - the Judges are supposed to act as juries and executioners in the field, but when Judge Dredd is frames, why is he put on trial? Wait, you just said there were no trials any more, so why is there even a courtroom to have a trial in? And the penalty for most crimes of this nature is death, umm, except for in this one case. Jeez, why are there even prisons any more, if people are always executed on the spot? For that matter, WHERE are there prisons any more? You just said the world was a vast wasteland...
Ugh, I can't even. These aren't even Nitpick Points, they're basic, fundamental problems embedded deep within the story of the film. Stop giving me "facts" about the way the world works, if your own story rejects those facts at every turn!
That's it, I'm getting off the comic-book/sci-fi track, and not a moment too soon. I'll try to swing back this way again before Comic-Con, but I really need a change of pace.
Also starring Sylvester Stallone (last seen in "Klute"), Armand Assante (last seen in "Private Benjamin"), Rob Schneider (last seen in "Big Daddy"), Jurgen Prochnow, Diane Lane (last seen in "Must Love Dogs"), Joan Chen (last seen in "Autumn in New York"), Balthazar Getty (last seen in "Natural Born Killers"), Scott Wilson, Joanna Miles, Angus MacInnes (last seen in "Captain Phillips"), Ewen Bremner (last seen in "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger"), with cameos from James Remar and the voices of Adrienne Barbeau, James Earl Jones (last seen in "Conan the Barbarian" - great, 2 more "Star Wars" connections!)
RATING: 2 out of 10 sky-cycles
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