Triple Bill Mini Musings: Laws, Victims, and Dictators...

Dredd:
What's it about?
A fresh attempt at turning the long-running British comic book Judge Dredd, from 2000AD, into a movie, after the not-exactly-great Sylvester Stallone version in the 1990s. Dredd and rookie Judge Anderson head to a mega block of flats called Peach Trees after a triple homicide is reported - however, in this crime-ridden 200-storey slum, they're going to be trapped alone together versus the MaMa gang who are pushing a new drug called Slo-Mo on Mega City One.
Who would I recognise in it?
Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Lena Heady, Wood Harris.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Scripted by Alex Garland (28 Days Later), shot by Anthony Dod Mantle (127 Hours, Oscar winning DoP), and directed by Pete Travis (Vantage Point), this fresh take on Judge Dredd is a welcome shot in the arm. Clocking in at a focused 95 minutes, the action comes thick and fast - not-to-mention blood-drenched - as blunt force Dredd and rookie try-out Anderson (a psychic) battle their way through a hellish skyscraper controlled by drug-addled miscreants. Parallels have been drawn to The Raid (tower block, bad guys, lots of arse kicking violence), but the two sit well by themselves and need no comparison. Extremely stylish (the Slo-Mo drug is realised on the screen in super-slow-motion that turns bullets ripping through cheeks into hypnotically beautiful moments), Dredd is sheer balls-out fun.

Click "READ MORE" below for more "Dredd" as well as "The Victim" and "The Dictator"...

While I'm unfamiliar with the Judge Dredd source material, Karl Urban fits the bill as the grimacing law man - a gruff sort who dishes out justice according to hard-and-fast rules and never takes his helmet off (cue hordes of cheering fans) ... meanwhile Olivia Thirlby provides a more heart-felt access door for the wider audience and acts as a fitting counter-balance to Dredd's brutal law enforcement for a brutal world. Filled with crowd-pleasing, squishy, darkly comic violence, and with a focused approach, Dredd is total entertainment - here's hoping there's a sequel. It's a proper, full-on bloke's movie - guns, gore, dark humour, lashings of style, and a grinding electro/guitar soundtrack - as soon as it was over I wanted to watch it again. Great.


The Victim:
What's it about?
Two good time girls get on the wrong side of two corrupt cops, and the one who survives ends up in the arms of a brooding hermit who lives alone in his woodland cabin - and so begins a violent confrontation.
Who would I recognise in it?
Michael Biehn, Danielle Harris, Jennifer Blanc.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Michael Biehn not only stars in this efficient low budget thriller, but he also performed scripting and directing duties. Inspired by Robert Rodriguez when he was on-set for Planet Terror, Biehn decided to lend his hand to making his own low budget 'grindhouse' style flick. The script does have some bumps along the way - certain moments of dialogue that could have been smoothed out, and some slightly under-worked flashback scenes, for example - and the tight budget shows - however, fans of family movie productions, where everybody mucks in for the love of filmmaking, will be well serviced here. Those expecting lashings of violence won't find too much of that here, but there is a decent amount of sex - although nothing too over-the-top (it's rated 15 here in the UK) - although, that said, the sex scene between real-life husband-and-wife Michael Biehn and Jennifer Blanc exhibits a certain steaminess that you usually don't see on screen.

Back to that family filmmaking vibe though, as the personalised credits attest to - where each member of the small crew is afforded screen time - this was a movie made with passion and determination. It's a flick that fights against its constraints and acts as a proving ground for those new to filmmaking, or those trying their hand at new skills, and the love that you feel emanating from behind-the-camera covers over the on-screen limitations. Of course, the biggest draw here is for Michael Biehn fans - he's one of those actors who is always worth watching; he just has a captivating presence, and particularly in recent years, a hard-worn honesty that commands respect. Personally, the highlight of the movie was a tense interrogation scene between Biehn's hermit Kyle and one of the corrupt cops - there's a gleefully dark twinkle in Biehn's eye throughout. It's in moments like this that the personal struggle to get the film made shines through - that family production vibe.

There are definitely a few areas for improvement for Biehn & Co, but their determination to put on a show will please followers of Biehn's work as well as those who dig low budget genre filmmaking. I hope we see more from them in the near future. Good.


The Dictator:
What's it about?
Comedy from writer/star/producer Sacha Baron Cohen and Director Larry Charles about the brutal dictator of fictional North African country Wadiya ending up in New York, stripped of his identity, and figuring out his new approach to life.
Who would I recognise in it?
Sacha Baron Cohen, Anna Faris, Ben Kingsley, Adeel Akhtar.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Hardcore Cohen fans will no doubt find what they want, but if you're tiring of the Cohen/Charles collaborations (such as Bruno), then you're in store for a mild time. Beyond a few eyebrow-raising shock moments - which will either come off as mildly amusing or childish, depending on your point of view - it's all rather tame and by-the-numbers, and even at a mere 80 minutes (including credits), it feels a bit wanting for material. There are a good few sideswipes at both sides of the political divide, and a few good off-colour gags dotted about, but for me at least, I didn't find myself all that moved one-way-or-another by it. Cohen's capable of far better work than this, but he's also prone to middling efforts too, perhaps this schtick is just getting a bit worn out. Alright, with a couple of good bits along the way.