A couple of weeks ago I finally managed to watch Dredd, the 2012 version directed by Pete Travis. For some reason I had missed it at the cinema and, given how much I enjoy these dystopian/action/escapist capers, I was being urged to rectify matters pronto.
By now I’m sure you all know my feelings about remakes – they fill my soul with wariness and scepticism. However, the original 1998 version, directed by Danny Cannon and starring Sylvester Stallone, was utter rubbish.
Moreover, I happen to be quite a fan of the whole Judge Dredd setting and storyline and these two factors combined to convince me to give Hollywood a second chance. After all, a worse offering than Cannon’s was pretty impossible to achieve.
I’m happy I went for this second chance and I enjoyed every second of the film. I thought it was a very brave decision to keep the trademark Dredd helmet on main actor Karl Urban’s face throughout the whole film.
A bit of eye candy typically helps box-office sales move along nicely. But boy, was it a great decision. Urban manages to give emotions and character even to a helmet.
Apart from the obvious – great action scenes, good acting and a killer storyline – Dredd has one other thing going for it.
The soundtrack. As is to be expected for a dystopian setting, the sound is very industrial-heavy and I do believe that it helps no end towards making the film what it is. It is available on Spotify and it’s brilliant for workouts.
A bit of eye candy helps box-office sales move along nicely
Incidentally, the film makes a great choice for a wintry DVD night in with friends and lashing of popcorn.
Given that the storyline is not exactly intellectual, you can still indulge in banter and chit-chat and pick up again from wherever you left off.
Speaking of screen heroes that started life as comic book characters, today is the last day of the second comic convention to be held in Malta in under two months. Incidentally, isn’t it about time that we stop this infamous and rather silly Maltese dichotomy?
Why do we always need two opposing factions of anything – two political parties, two parish feasts in a village, two band clubs etc etc?
But that is by the by. After all, from a selfish point of view two conventions only mean two events for us to enjoy. So, on to the current convention; one of the guests is Dave Taylor, who has worked on the Judge Dredd series, among other things.
Any Judge Dredd fans out there, make sure you don’t miss it. He is currently also working on the first Doctor Who comic book that will feature Peter Capaldi as the new doctor, so there are exciting things brewing even on that front.
On the Judge Dredd and Doctor Who front, even more news from the convention; Emma Beeby is also on the guest list. Beeby was the first woman to pen the Judge Dredd comics throughout its almost four decade history.
Take that, glass ceiling and stereotype gender division in comics. She has also written a number of Doctor Who audio-stories.
So there you are, two good reasons for Whovians and Dredd fans to show up at the convention at St James Cavalier in Valletta today.