.

In the future, America has become an irradiated wasteland, except for Mega City One, a single, vast urban landscape stretching from Boston to Washington, DC. Its 800 million citizens live among the ruins of the old world, and in the new structures of the new. The City is policed by “Judges”, a force of police officers who have the ability to review the crime and pass sentence on the street. When Judge Dredd, one of the more militant law enforcement officers, takes a rookie to a routine triple homicide investigation in a vertical apartment block things start to get rough. It turns out the three victims crossed gang leader and drug lord Ma-Ma, who is desperately trying to ensure that the suspect the Judges arrested is never questioned.

The Dredd franchise is back with a filthy, gritty, hyper-violent world in director Pete Travis‘ version, starring Karl Urban as the title character.

Urban puts in a solid turn as the legendary lawman, making lines that could be laughable seem completely reasonable while carrying off the action perfectly ““ proving that when well cast and well shot, there are few things better than watching Judge Dredd do his job.

Joining Urban as new recruit Anderson is Olivia Thirlby. While she can certainly kick some ass of her own, her softness is required as a foil to Dredd’s cold, unrelenting morality. Lena Headey may have finally found the perfect role as a cold, calculating, disfigured drug lord.

Comparisons to The Raid cannot be avoided, but the “closed system” device works for both films equally. Certainly it is effective at ramping up the stakes and drawing you in with its effects and action.

Is Dredd 3D Essential TIFF Viewing?

If you can get tickets to the Midnight Madness screening on Thursday, September 6, then yes, absolutely. If you miss out on that experience, you can wait until September 21 and see Dredd 3D when it opens in wide release.

Dredd 3D Screening Times

• Thursday, September 6 at 11:59 pm at Ryerson Theatre, and
• Saturday, September 8 at 12:30 pm Cineplex Yonge & Dundas 7

More About This Movie

Dredd 3D Trailer

Dredd 3D Production Gallery

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Trista DeVries

Like most people who write for the web, I’ve been obsessed with movies since I was very young. My favourite movies are The Social Network, Easy A and Garden State, but I try to spend my time broadening my film horizons. I’m the Publisher of Toronto Film Scene and I Heart Movies, and in my “spare” time, I’m a web designer and strategist. (Gotta support my movie habit somehow…)

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