It took the apocalypse for Americans to adopt the metric system

Though Dredd 3D (to quote The Big Bang Theory, to be in 3D “the studio must have confidence in it.”) came out a while ago, I was otherwise occupied but I made an effort here to catch it at Canterbury’s Gulbenkian Theatre, as I had an affinity with Judge Dredd and his appearances in 2000AD and the previous film was so lame and to satisfy the ego of Sylvester Stallone who was playing him, Dredd spent most of the time with his helmet off – something that never happened in the comic.


Here, the only time Dredd has his helmet off is the very opening few seconds as he suits up in a semi-darkened room. Karl Urban is not so bothered if people get to see the top of his head (though it does get a little confusing when he is battling some rogue Judges).

The venal, extravagant dystopia envisaged by 2000AD is very much realised, and you get a feeling for the immensity of Mega City One, housing 800 million people and stretching from Boston to Washington D.C. The sprawl is pockmarked by huge housing blocks, home to roughly 75,000 people and, of course, the fascist-looking monolithic Justice Headquarters – these people are just one step up from the criminals they apprehend.

There is plenty of humour that has survived from the comic, with one strung-out, homeless man holding a sign saying “I will debase myself for credits” – further, it is not long before he is unceremoniously crushed by a blast door. This film would play very well on a commercial channel punctuated by adverts because, like the comic (i.e. ‘tune in next week’), Dredd 3D has very contained segments of action. Also, unlike the Stallone flop, it doesn’t have some grand overarching concept but focuses on a standard story, again as in the comics. It’s not going to win any prizes but is aware of its limitations and so is a polished little gem. Interestingly, Dredd uses the metric system, talking in metres, not yards.

Essentially, apart from one exciting chase scene at the start, it is like a futuristic Die Hard, with Dredd and his psychic female rookie trapped in a vast housing complex under lockdown and taking out the numerous ‘perps’ searching for them. Not that these baddies are drones – one is later shown to have been a loving husband and father. The ultimate perp is a drug-dealing villainess called MaMa who has taken over the complex and using it as a fiefdom to market a powerful new narcotic.

The film ends as it did in the strip with a brief coda, it being just another day in the field. There are many excellent and cute aspects that I haven’t documented – I hope there are many more days in the field to come.