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Rating: 1 out of 5
Law! I Am the Law!!
The words were spoken by the legendary comic book lawman. If you don’t know anything about Judge Dredd, here is a little background on him to get things started. Judge Joseph Dredd is a fictional character created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra. He first appeared in the second issue of 2000 AD (1977), a British weekly anthology comic. Judge Dredd is the most famous of the Street Judges that patrol Mega-City One. Street Judges have the power to instantly convict, sentence, and sometimes execute offenders. All Street Judges are equipped with a special weapon called the “Lawgiver,” a pistol programmed to recognize only the user’s palm-print and capable of firing six types of ammunition, a day stick, a boot knife, and stun or gas grenades. Also, Dredd rides a large “Lawmaster” motorcycle equipped with machine guns, a powerful laser cannon, and full artificial intelligence capable of responding to orders from the Judge and operating itself. Judge Dredd has officially come to the big screen starring Sylvester Stallone. Even though the only thing worse than Stallone’s acting is the story and the what is going on moments.
In the dystopian future, much of the Earth has become a barren wasteland. While some of the surviving humans live in the barren lands named “Cursed Earth,” the majority of the humans reside in huge Mega-Cities with populations of tens of millions. Crime has run rampant in the Mega-Cities, and to combat this, the justice system has been replaced by a force called Judges. Judges have the combined roles of a police officer, judge, jury, and executioner. In the year 2139 in Mega-City One, Judge Joseph Dredd is the one Judge no one ever wants to meet. He is extreme, upholds the law, and gives zero f**ks about your excuses. When he is framed for the assassination of a journalist and his wife by renegade Judge Rico. Dredd must figure out a way to clear his name from the very system he loves and protects. With the help from his trusted colleague Judge Hershey and cowardly computer hacker Fergie, Dredd searches for answers where the truth might bring down the very system he loves.
Okay, so where to begin. I don’t know if I was watching an action movie that wanted to be serious or be a comic book film that played on humor. I would say that it was extremely entertaining watching this film be so bad. I would say it is one of those films that you say it is so bad, it’s good, but it’s not. The movie is straight-up terrible. I understand the premise and all that, but the direction was just off. One second the film was a tad bit serious, and then the next, it goes off in a comedic tone and then back to a serious tone. Make up your mind. I know this is a comic book film but at least have something on the lines of consistency.
Stallone, what the hell were you doing? If you think it was acting, then I might as well give it a try because you sure did try to overact some scenes. Actually, you overacted many of the scenes and gave so many one-liners that I slapped my head in disbelief. The whole “I am the Law!” scene is a classic of what you should not do. Armand Assante as Rico Dredd was just as intense and crazy. I also love how he overemphasized the word “Law.” Actually, Assante wasn’t that bad, but he could’ve been a tad bit better. Rob Schneider played his usual comedic and annoying role. This is why I thought the movie couldn’t make up its mind because the acting threw it off.
The only good thing about this film is the costumes, action scenes, and the music. All those things make the film bearable. The music is pretty intense and has that epic comic book feel to it. You know you are watching a comic book film when you are listening to the music. The action scenes are really good until someone opens their mouth and ruins the whole thing. The costume is what you expect them to be: grand, outrageous, and downright hilarious.
We live in a day and age where now we have loads of comic book films. Judge Dredd is outrageous, horrible, and laughable. Stallone was so over the top that you couldn’t help but laugh at him every time he spoke. If you are going to watch a comic book movie, skip over this one or watch Dredd’s reboot version. It is far better.
