Back when I was younger, I used to read 2000AD comic each week because I enjoyed following Judge Dredd stories. A number of classmates and I were hooked on a lengthy storyline titled Necropolis which ran through the spring and summer of 1990.
In one of the issues, there was talk of a Judge Dredd movie. I recall anticipating a film version of the comic character but didn't know we would have to endure quite a wait.
By the time Sylvester Stallone donned the Judge Dredd helmet (or not don the helmet depending on your opinion), I had stopped reading the comic so the movie no longer appealed to me.
The dreadful reviews it garnered punctuated my lack of interest.
The film was on one of the Sky Movies channels a number of Christmases ago and recorded it. I don't know why. I just thought I'd get around to watching it one day.
A few weeks ago, I saw that there was a brand new Judge Dredd movie - Dredd - and decided to see what it was like. I bought it on Blu-ray.
The other day, I was watching Channel Five and I noticed an advert for the Sylvester Stallone Judge Dredd movie. Remembering that I still had both movies but had still not watched either, an idea struck me.
I was going to watch both the movies back-to-back and write about them on here.
I watched the original movie on Tuesday night. The reviewers who bashed it were not wrong whatsoever.
The thing that wound up a lot of fans was the fact that Stallone only wore the helmet of the lawgiver for a small portion of the movie. For Stallone to get involved with a comic book character like that and want his face shown is quite arrogant, in my opinion.
The dialogue was pathetic and the story was kind of dull. The most annoying character in the entire film was the petty criminal played by Rob Schneider. I don't know for the life of me why the writers needed comedy relief. I get the feeling we should blame Samuel L. Jackson for it. After all, this film did come out around the same time as Die Hard With A Vengeance.
The bottom line - I knew was I get myself into.
With that said, I did not know what to expect from the reboot as I did not read any reviews and popped the disc in with no knowledge of how it was received.
I think this film was more true to the character. He kept his helmet on throughout the ninety minutes, for a start.
The dystopian atmosphere was present in both movies but the latest film was more darker and gorier. I guess the best way to describe it is that it felt like the comic book, which is something I didn't really get from the original.
Another plus for Dredd was that I did get to watch it in 3D. Regardless, it was a better film and was twenty or so years too late. I would have liked it even more if I had watched it during the days of my Judge Dredd fandom.
It will be interesting to see if Dredd spans a sequel. If so, call me interested.
No comments:
Post a Comment