Runtime:
96 minutes
Directed
by: Danny Cannon
Starring:
Sly Stallone, Armand Assante, Rob Schneider, Diane Lane, Max Von
Sydow
From:
Hollywood Pictures
As
Dredd 3D came out in North America today, I could not think of a
better time to review this infamous mid 90's film, which doesn't have
too many fans. I know that the comic purists don't care for it as
it's so unfaithful; that does not mean a damn thing to me. I just say
that this isn't a good movie.
To
steal the plot from IMDb: “In
a dystopian future, Dredd, the most famous judge (a cop with instant
field judiciary powers) is convicted for a crime he did not commit
while his murderous counterpart escapes.” Yea, that is correct.
It's set in a mostly wasteland Earth where there are a few “mega
cities” around. In Mega City One there are judges that try to keep
things in order. Dredd gets set up for a crime and despite his pal
Hershey (Lane) trying to defend him in court, he gets convicted while
that murderous counterpart (Assante) gets away and causes problems.
Dredd ends up having to deal with some odious “comic” relief
(Schneider) as he tries to clear his name.
This
movie... it isn't horrible but it's just not that good. The cast is
fine, for sure (there's also Jurgen Prochnow), the city looks fine
and for the mid 90's the special effects are quality. The ideas of
the story are fine. It's just that it doesn't come together in a good
manner. There are plenty of stupid and dopey moments and you do not
want to think about the plot too much. It also isn't too memorable.
While Schneider wasn't as Jar Jar as I remembered and it's funny to
think of him in an action movie, his character wasn't needed and much
of that humor was just blah.
I
did laugh that for a few seconds in this 22nd
century set movie you heard White Zombie's Supercharger Heaven (i.e.
that one song where they sing about “Devilman”); I also laughed
for different reasons when I heard then saw that the big title song
they had at the end of the film was by THE CURE. Yes, that soft-rock
band doing a wimpy song about a badass character... I don't get it
either. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall back then when
they made that decision to hire that band.
So
yeah, there isn't too much to say about this random futuristic 90's
action film that is rather standard most of the way. From what I hear
Dredd 3D is a lot better and it won't be too long before I find that
out for myself. I'll be back tomorrow afternoon.
No comments:
Post a Comment