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I saw this today and I came away feeling I got my money's worth. It took a bit to get going but about halfway in it clicks on all cylinders and doesn't let go till the end. I liked Karl Urban, he was the perfect amount of gruff, violent, and dark humored that I felt he was the best part of the movie, just like it should be. I didn't care for the rookie much of the film until towards the end when she wasn't just a kid spouting laws to pass a test. The slo-mo stuff was cool for a time or two but then it just came down to bullet time-like effects.
Everyone kept saying how ultra-violent this was, I didn't see it as ultra-violent. There was alot of blood, bullets piercing in slow motion, alot of people being dropped from great heights, and a wacky death in there from time to time. Ultra violent suggests gory, like some of the Saw films or Seven, I didn't get that from this, just a cop exacting justice in the coolest ways he could think of. The uniqueness showcases Judge Dredd's methods as a man to be feared and not the Sylvester Stallone version who sent more people to jail than executed. If you're looking for it to be the opposite of what Sly Stallone put out there then you'll be more than pleased with what is provided.
If there was one thing I would've liked would have been to see more people know Judge Dredd and the terror he was. When he walks in to the Peach Trees the citizens and bad guys alike aren't really afraid of him. Ma-Ma doesn't even know what a badass he is until someone points it out later in the film. Also the woman who plays Cersei in Game of Thrones was the villain Ma-Ma in this film and I don't think she touched her potential like she does in GoT.
Overall I'll go see the sequel because Karl Urban says he wants to explore the choice storyline and dark judges from the comics, and I think if they want to build a franchise that's the right way to go for the sequel. This one wasn't as much of an origin story as it was a story you already know, they just hit you in the face with it instead of trying to build a somehow sympathetic Dredd like Stallone and Co. attempted foolishly.
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