Guest Movie Review: Dredd

The two Judge Dredds: For fans, Dredd is the hero of his own comic series; a futuristic lawbringer whose stories have been told in the weekly British comic anthology 2000 A.D. since 1977. In the comic, we were introduced to the futuristic, post-nuclear Mega-City One, whose more traditional types of law enforcement has been replaced by the Judges, exercising the combined powers of judge, jury and executioner as a deterrent for the rampant chaos of the criminals and gangs that stalk the streets. To these fans, Judge Dredd is a big deal, ranked as one of the top all-time comic book characters, in the same league as Batman, Superman and Captain America.For most people, however, Judge Dredd refers only to the abysmal 1995 movie starring Sylvester Stallone, of which Dredd’s creator John Wagner has been quoted as saying “the story had nothing to do with Judge Dredd, and Judge Dredd wasn’t really Judge Dredd.” The biggest gripe you'll hear from fans? Dredd, who in the comics is famous for never removing his helmet, takes his off almost immediately in Stallone’s film. The movie set back Dredd’s Hollywood potential by more than a decade. So when I heard that the iconic comic character was getting another shot at the big screen, I was more than a little surprised. Could a properly-done Dredd flick make up for all the ill will of the previous disaster? For once, fans needn't have worried. Dredd, penned by Alex Garland and directed by Vantage Point’s Pete Travis, is so good it leaped straight to my #6 movie of the year. Travis does an excellent job of introducing us to the violent world of Mega-City One, a vast rat-hole sprawling from Boston to Washington DC, with a nuclear wasteland outside its borders. Inside, crime runs rampant, with the men and women of the Hall of Justice fighting a losing battle against the chaos. Judges are stretched so thin that they can only respond to 6% of all reported activity at any given time, and a good chunk of new recruits don’t make it through the first day in the meat grinder. That’s how renowned Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) ends up patrolling with psychic trainee Anderson (Olivia Thirlby), investigating a triple-homicide in the 200-story slum tower block called Peach Trees. But when they arrest a man who has connections to former prostitute/current criminal kingpin Ma-Ma (Lena Headey) and the distribution of the new mega-drug Slo-Mo, the drug lord responds by activating the building’s security and locking down the complex, trapping the two Judges inside. With no backup on the way and hundreds of criminals looking to claim their heads, Dredd and Anderson must take down the criminal empire that has no intention of letting them leave Peach Trees alive. One word to describe this Dredd: uncompromising. This is a movie in which you will constantly find yourself shielding your eyes from the vast amounts of blood and gore that practically leaks from the edges of the screen. Men and women are shot, hit by vehicles, crushed, blown up or dropped from great heights, and much like the city’s more cynical pedestrians, the director never shies away from the violence inflicted on his characters, lingering just a bit too long on the desecrated remains of what was once a human being. This is half the fun of Dredd, though the ultra-high body count definitely means that only adults should be watching. There is also a decent amount of slow-motion action present, which some might understandably be wary of after Matrix imitators copied the effect to death. But not only is the slow motion well justified, with most uses being a direct result of somebody's inhalation of the drug Slo-Mo (which slows the user’s perception to 1% of normal speed), but it's also superbly done: it combines with the excellent 3D and visceral blood and guts to create surprisingly beautiful and surreal visuals. Travis demonstrates a clear eye here, building wonder but never exclusively relying on it to make his movie.This is where Garland's writing comes in. Dredd is less an epic story and more a “day in the life” of the Judges of Mega-City One; you get the feeling that even the survivors of this escapade will reach day two and essentially repeat similar experiences. Much like HBO’s The Wire, Dredd is not really about its characters, but about the city where they live. Mega-City one is populated by criminals and Judges fighting one another, but we’re never allowed to forget that there are millions more of innocent civilians in the crossfire, normal people whose lives can be squashed flat in a moment. The bad guys of course don’t about those who get in their way, but the Judges hardly seem to care either: the murder of an innocent is only another item with which to charge the suspect. It’s an imperfect system, instituted by people with no idea what else to do, and makes for an incredibly fascinating setting for future potential tales. And while the focus of the story is less character than situation, the fact that Garland (celebrated author of The Beach) manages to write so many great characters into the film makes it all work that much better. Our Judge Dredd, Karl Urban, has had some iconic sci-fi and fantasy roles in his career. Actual stardom has eluded him, but anyone needing proof that he deserves it should take one look at his portrayal of Judge Dredd. Despite never removing a helmet that covers everything but his jaw, Urban manages to convey more emotion with his perpetual scowls and short, biting dialogue than most seasoned actors can put together unmasked. This was an actor who constantly lobbied for shorter and fewer lines from Garland (and really, who in Hollywood does that?), and although the character itself only undergoes minor emotional and logical shifts over the film’s 95 minutes, Urban makes sure you notice every one. The result is arguably the best performance in a genre leading role this year. But as good as Urban is, Dredd officially belongs to the ladies. Olivia Thirlby’s psychic Judge Anderson and Lena Headey’s sadistic and cruel Ma-Ma bring an added element of excellence to this adaptation. Female antagonists are often a frustrating bunch (especially in genre movies), far too often going all wishy-washy right when their male counterparts would be ramping things up. Thankfully, Ma-Ma never backs down from her throne of evil; she’s a wicked woman who doesn’t shy from skinning someone alive, giving them a dose of Slo-Mo and tossing them from the highest ledge she can find. Completely lacking in conscience, she's one of the most memorable villains - male or female - this season, thanks to Headey. And Thirlby’s Anderson, no mere sidekick, is Ma-Ma's polar opposite: generally good-hearted, wanting to make a difference, and willing to uphold society’s laws. Anderson undergoes a huge transformation over the course of the movie in determining the type of Judge she will be. The dynamic between the two characters is fascinatingly caught. Both were raised in the slums, the poorest and most dangerous sections of the city. But while Ma-Ma embraced the darkness, Anderson has grasped onto the goodness in people and fought for it. It’s as though Mega-City One has seen the opening of Pandora’s Box; crime and corruption run rampant through the city, with Anderson (not Dredd or the city’s other more cynical Judges) representing the last ray of hope. Thirlby, given a great opportunity, manages to give one of her best performances to date, and in the process, she steal the show from her older, more experienced castmates. Thanks to Travis, Garland, Wagner (who was brought in to consult on the production, always a good sign) and their teams, Dredd not only manages to out-perform its cheesy 90’s predecessor, but also many of its modern contemporaries. This is a better comic book adaptation than Green Lantern, The Amazing Spider-Man and even Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, which practically set the bar for gritty, down-to-earth action dramas. Sure, Garland’s story might not be the most original – it’s essentially The Raid: Redemption with bits of Training Day thrown in – but the fact that it is so well told is a testament to the talent involved. Though odds are against it, Dredd ensured that should any sequels get produced, I’ll gladly be part of the audience. Until then, I’ll just try to convince folks that this violent, cold-blooded monster is indeed a beast worth watching. John C. Anderson is a freelance writer, movie enthusiast and Foursquare Mayor living in Boston. Check out Hello, Mr. Anderson for the latest movie reviews.

Guest Movie Review: The Apparition

The Twilight film series will finally be coming to a close this fall, and with it the free rides of many of the young actors and actresses who made names for themselves in their roles in the franchise. Series stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner have already left a trail of side projects trying to prove their versatility, with varying degrees of success. And nobody can deny Anna Kendrick’s rise to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for Up in the Air, plus starring roles in 50/50, ParaNorman and the upcoming Pitch Perfect. Even Kellan Lutz will have a chance to break out of the Twilight cage when he stars in the announced Tarzan movie. But it is the future career of series favorite Ashley Greene that seems to be in question. Besides appearing in a few little-seen Indies, Greene has yet to make a name for herself outside of the realm of vampires and werewolves. So naturally her first widely-released starring role comes in a movie about poltergeists. Stardom will have to wait a bit longer, because Greene won't be reaping any benefits from The Apparition, by first-time director Todd Lincoln. Lincoln also wrote the screenplay, which is partially based on the Philip Experiment; a real-life attempt in the 1970’s to manifest an imaginary spirit to show that it was an unexplained ability of the human mind to project spirits - essentially, that ghosts only exist because we want them to. A similar experiment starts off the film, as a trio of college students attempts their own supercharged version and in doing so seem to create a monstrous spirit with murder on its mind. Not long after, Ashley (Greene) and Ben (Sebastian Stan) begin to experience strange happenings in their new home. When things go from bad to worse, Ashley learns that Ben had been part of the project, and they team up with the only other survivor of the experiment to try and send this paranormal entity back to the place it escaped. If you watched the trailer, you might wonder where all the “You believe, you die” stuff comes into play; you know, the only part of what we were shown that was the least bit different from standard paranormal fare. Well, Lincoln apparently decided to scrap that angle - he even has his characters state that the ghost haunting our characters is indeed from another dimension and not our minds at all. So it’s just another poltergeist. Fantastic. Lincoln also eliminates much of the “science” in his experimentation, tossing out ideas for combating a spirit that seem to operated on the same principle playing a record backwards to discover satanic messages. In his life, Lincoln obviously has never heard of the scientific method, and much of his screenplay feels more comfortable trying (unsuccessfully) to scare the audience than explaining anything. In fact, he actually cheats, blaming the “illogical” and “unpredictable” attacks on the ghost itself and not his shoddy script. If you want to go the pseudo-science route in telling a story, I’d appreciate it if you actually bothered to use some science in the final product. Otherwise, why bother? The acting is nothing special, but one can’t help but notice the not-so subtle attempts to drag in the Twilight crowd. Greene is an obvious example. She’s beautiful, occasionally runs around in her underwear and in a script full of blatantly bad and clichéd dialogue, manages to hold her own competently enough. I’m sure there are those hoping she can graduate from the “Scream Queen” role, but for the time being she is at least well suited to it. The other bait seems to be the careful deliberation in turning Sebastian Stan into a poor man’s Robert Pattinson. Everything is there: the carefully-sculpted hair, the scruffy, shaped jaw line, the constantly intense eyes. Stan even shares Pattinson’s acting style, meaning you’re going to spend most of the film wondering why he looks so familiar when you ought to be paying attention to anything that happens to be going on. Tom Felton (Harry Potter’s Draco Malfoy) gets to be British again, which is the best thing I can say about his otherwise unremarkable performance. The guy who got to utter one of the best lines in last year’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes is merely here for exposition, and to die quickly. Nobody ever expected that this would be an “acting” movie, but considering it does little else well, the acting needed to step up and take control. Of course, all this would be moot if the film actually bothered to scare its audience. Even a movie substandard in every other way can make up a lot of ground by properly messing with your head and keeping you on the edge of your seat. But Lincoln, who has never created a show of this size, seems lost most of the time. His narrative is a mess; his story makes no sense, and while he occasionally strikes upon a moment (such as one featuring a neighbor’s child) that at least surprises the audience, he cannot maintain that focus, so everything once again descends into drudgery. The movie never takes advantage of its good ideas, so the whole experience feels like one long derivative college film exercise. We’re getting to that time of the year where horror becomes more prevalent, the transition of the summer blockbuster season to more moderate, subtle filmmaking. It also starts Halloween season, which means that The Apparition is just the first in a wide dispersal of scare-oriented movies designed to put butts in the seats in a cheap, efficient manner. Unfortunately, we're off to a rotten start: this was probably the worst horror movie I’ve ever seen - certainly it's in the running for the worst movie of 2012. With The Possession coming out next week and more seemingly superior titles on the horizon, there’s no reason to waste two hours and catch this on the big screen. Even if you’re consumed by the need to witness a Hollywood scary movie, you can do better than what Todd Lincoln has deemed “good enough.” Skip it at all costs. John C. Anderson is a freelance writer and film enthusiast living in Boston. For all his latest movie reviews, check out Hello, Mr. Anderson.

Guest Movie Review: Total Recall

Critics tend to scoff at remakes. To many, these copies represent the worst that Hollywood has to offer, blatantly repeating stories that were successful in the past, rather than risk trying anything new. As movie stars demand higher and higher salaries and major motion picture budgets often surpass $100 million, it’s easy to see why studios (which are businesses) would be wary of taking a chance on new content. But the remake machine often gets out of hand, a notable example being 2010's Death at a Funeral, a remake of the 2007 British film of the same name - British as in, it was already in English. They both even cast Peter Dinklage in the same role. But while remakes often seem like a dumb trend worth repealing, people often forget that some of the best movies they’ve seen were in fact replicas of earlier efforts. Steven Soderbergh’s Oceans trilogy would be nonexistent without the Rat Pack-studded original. 3:10 to Yuma with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale was an underrated western thriller released fifty years after the one starring Glenn Ford and Van Heflin. David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was a better-than-expected copy of the first of the excellent Swedish trilogy. True Grit saw Jeff Bridges outdraw the Duke himself. And though it’s often forgotten, Martin Scorcese’s The Departed was based on a Hong Kong film called Internal Affairs. My point is that there is such thing as a remake living up to, or in some cases even surpassing, the original, allowing the same story to be introduced to a new audience, sometimes in a completely different way. Thus, a new Total Recall, brought to us by Len Wiseman, the man behind the action-packed Underworld series. A remake of Paul Verhoeven’s 1990 sci-fi thriller starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and loosely based on the Philip K. Dick story We Can Remember it for You Wholesale, Recall is still a risky venture for all involved. Verhoeven and “The Governator” were on the tops of their respective games in the early '90s, turning Total Recall into a major hit. While Wiseman did help make Live Free or Die Hard a blockbuster success in 2007, there’s little to say that he could do the same for a Total Recall starring non-superstars Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel. Still, the story tackling inequality seems perfectly suited to this era of the 99%, and there are worse things in life than a decent remake of a science fiction classic. It turns out that beyond a few cosmetic differences, there’s not a whole lot of difference between 2012’s Total Recall and its 22 year-old descendant. In the not-too-distant future, chemical warfare has rendered most of planet Earth uninhabitable. The only superpowers remaining are the United Federation of Britain, which comprises almost all of Western Europe, and “The Colony,” otherwise known as Australia. While the UFB manages to retain most of the world’s economic strengths, The Colony finds itself mostly under the UFB’s thumb, and workers travel through a tunnel in the Earth to Europe for nothing more than low-wage, go-nowhere jobs. Tired of his monotonous factory life, Douglas Quaid (Farrell) decides to visit Rekall, a company that specializes in implanting artificial memories into the minds of those who want them. Inspired by his recurring dreams to take on the memory of being a secret agent, Quaid is shocked to discover actual memories of being a spy hidden away in the recesses of his brain. Soon he is on the run, as both the UFB and a group known as the Resistance want to find and recover the information hidden in his head, information that could be used to  tip global power in the favor of the victors. To those asking “What about Mars?” - sorry folks. While mentioned, Mars is never a major factor in this current version of the story, nor are the mutants who live there. Strangely, there are still three-breasted women, but most of the females in this film are of the more conservatively-endowed variety. Besides those items, Wiseman retains the haves/have-nots struggle between the UFB and the Colony, and in fact makes several references to the 1990 original. Carefully, he wriggles away from the campiness of the first film (and Schwarzenegger’s performance) by using the advances in technology to convincingly create a whole new Earth for us to look at. I was reminded of Luc Besson’s Fifth Element (in a good way), seeing the future Earth build vertically to accommodate the rapidly-overcrowding population, and Total Recall does a great job in expressing just how jam packed this new world is. While there are a few unaccounted items (I don’t see any domes, so what's keeping the habitable areas free from contamination?), there aren't many slow spots that allow you to care about more than the action on the screen. The movie also proves a fine vehicle for its stars, not all of whom have been given their due credit. Farrell in particular hasn’t had the type of career you would have expected after his starring turns in Phone Booth, Minority Report, and The Recruit. Despite his obvious talent, most people have focused on his “Bad Boy” persona, paying more attention to his drug problems and sex tapes than his actual work. It’s a shame, as those folks have missed some great performances in the past few years, including one as a young country star in Crazy Heart, In Bruges’ well-meaning hitman, a psychopath in Horrible Bosses, and a deadly vampire in Fright Night. Here he does a wonderful job of playing the unassuming hero, far more subtle in his transformation from lowly factory worker to secret agent than the infinitely-larger Schwarzenegger. Also amazing is Beckinsale, who changes even her accent when she reveals herself to be not Quaid’s loving wife, but a relentless assassin determined to take him down. Beckinsale deserves to be a star in her own right, and it’s terrible that the only real chances she gets these days are when her husband (Wiseman) is the man in charge. It’s a great role, though, and her scenes are among the best in the film. Unlike the other leads, Biel doesn’t show that she has earned a bigger role in Hollywood. Still, while she won’t take home any awards for her work, she’s a solid contributor who plays well enough off of her co-stars. And while John Cho and Bill Nighy do well in bit parts, the unheralded star of Total Recall has got to be Bryan Cranston, whose award-winning turn in the AMC show Breaking Bad has led to his appearance in ten major films in 2011-2012. Cranston is so versatile an actor that he can go from a dramatic role in Drive to a more comedic one in Rock of Ages, and finish up as Recall’s villainous Cohaagen. In short, he is the perfect actor, and I’ll always be interested in seeing a film in which he appears. I’m a bit surprised that this title wasn’t converted to 3D (Wiseman did it with his last Underworld outing, and 3D is a big seller overseas), but the special effects are sharp enough without the added tech. Wiseman’s eye for action and an excellent cast are the main reasons you should see this movie, but there's also a decent science fiction story that feels as fresh and relevant now as it did over two decades ago. In ways, it’s a far better tale than the one told in Prometheus, which requires far too many leaps in logic. Total Recall is the kind of popcorn film that used to be an automatic crowd pleaser not that long ago. It won’t be as popular or successful as the original, but I for one enjoyed myself - more than I did at Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and almost as much as this year’s Batman and Spider-Man titles. I think you will too, if you can shake that remake-inspired chip off of your shoulder. John C. Anderson is a freelance writer and movie enthusiast living in Boston. Check out Hello, Mr. Anderson for his latest film reviews.