Dredd Review

Dredd is the reboot of an old Sylvester Stallone movie which is based upon a comic book named Judge Dredd. The original movie was received poorly and did not stay true to the character of Judge Dredd at all. Thankfully after watching this reboot I am happy to say that Dredd surpassed all my expectations.
The movie centers around a pair of judges who are the law in a post apocalyptic America. Large slum cities stretch across the world and it is up to the judges to keep order. While the movie is named after Judge Dredd, the main part of the development and character depth is in another. Judge Anderson, a psychic, is under evaluation for full judge status. Throughout the next 95 minutes her evaluation is full of drugs, guns, and gore.While not necessarily tasteful, the gore onscreen is true to the comics and adds to the atmosphere that director Pete Travis is attempting to set. From the sweeping shots of the crowded, crime filled cities to the tiniest droplets of blood flying in slow motion Travis accomplishes this for the most part. The film is visually pleasing in this sense if not a little stomach churning. To go along with this, the stylized drug trip sequences are often beautiful as well as horrifying. The dichotomy presented lends itself to the main idea that is present throughout the movie.Justice, crime, and punishment are the most central themes to Dredd. In this world the judges are forced to be judge, jury, and if it comes to it, executioner. While Dredd does not hesitate to execute those who stand in the way of justice, Anderson is more apprehensive. In one scene we learn that Anderson has never been in combat before, and is now caught in one of the biggest shootouts in judge history. She is the most relatable character in this sense. Her innocence is also central to the story, it is almost a coming of age story in one sense as she is forced to come to terms with survival, crime, and justice including what it means to be a judge.Dredd is a thrill ride full of action and over the top shootouts in an almost black and white good versus evil story. From the second it opens you are in for as much as you can handle. Dredd is for anyone who loves action movies or comic book movies. It's not for the faint of heart with its many blood spills and corpses but it handles it well. It does not go half way, Dredd is all in. Not only that, but it never lets up. Among its many bullet casings and broken bodies are beautiful shots, great acting from Karl Urban (Dredd), Olivia Thrilby (Judge Anderson), and delivering an amazing villain is Lena Headey as Ma-Ma. This movie sucks you in and you can't take your eyes away lest you miss the justice being done in every shot. While plot may move slowly, and the blood off putting, this movie is well worth seeing. Four out of Five. 

Edit: This movie can be classified many different ways. The biggest one is most likely Good vs. Evil or The Battle because of how good vs. evil it is. On the other hand it could be Individual versus Society in the sense that its basically the judges versus everyone in the cities. One other possibility is Loss of Innocence in the case of Anderson.