History Film / Dredd

** As much as Ma-Ma tries to be a competent villain, she [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer only solves her problems with violence]] - which the doctor points out in the beginning;

* PutDownYourGunAndStepAway: Subverted. Ma-Ma orders Dredd to put down his Lawgiver or she'll blow the block. Dredd, being the [[AntiHero no-nonsense individual]] that he is, [[spoiler:simply shoots her non-fatally, doses her up with Slo-Mo, [[DestinationDefenestration then tosses her out the window]]]].

* GoodCopBadCop: When Dredd is violently interrogating Kay and Anderson intervened, it seemed as if Dredd is playing the bad cop while Anderson plays the good cop. Turned out what Anderson did to Kay was [[MindRape worse]]. More like Bad Cop/Worse Cop.

* BloodySmile: As Anderson is having a mental one on one with Kay she inverts one of his fantasies of forcing her to do down on him by having it appear to be Ma-Ma who looks up at him with a bloody smile, a callback to her "feminizing" her previous pimp with her teeth.

* AintTooProudToBeg: Subverted. An enemy has Dredd at his mercy, and Dredd asks him to "wait," which seems like he's going to beg for his life. The enemy mocks him for it but gets shot down by Anderson, and Dredd later says, "Wait for her to shoot you."

* AintTooProudToBeg: An enemy has Dredd at his mercy and Dredd asks him to "wait" which seems like he's going to beg for his life and the enemy mocks him for it. After the enemy's death at the hands of Anderson he amends it saying, "Wait for her to shoot you."

** Dredd's backup gets locked outside the building by the Clan Techie, who covers with a story that Peach Trees is in lockdown because of a drill and that they can't override the drill because of a fire. They are later easily dismissed [[spoiler:by the four corrupt Judges on Ma-Ma's payroll]]. Who simply order the doors opened for them and it happens instantly, [[spoiler: albeit because they're on Ma-Ma's payroll]].
** The Judges are extremely effective but there is so much crime in the Mega City and they are spread so thin that only 6% of reported crimes are investigated each day. Ma-Ma was able to conquer the entire Peach Trees block and the three individual gangs specifically because the building hadn't been visited by a Judge in ''years''.

* NoOSHACompliance: Peach Trees has a skateboard park built on the outside of the seventieth floor with no safety rails of any kind. The only saving grace is a moderate amount of flat ground between the ramp and the edge.

* TheFaceless: As in the comics, Dredd's face is never seen with his helmet off. The back of his head is seen with the helmet off once as hep
L is in the process of getting dressed for work. Even then he is heavily silhouetted leaving the view obscured.

* CoversAlwaysLie: See those blocks on the poster that're on fire? The movie takes exclusively inside only one of them and the threat is not city-wide.

* DeathByLookingUp: An unfortunate beggar, sat beneath Peach Trees' blast doors, is crushed to death when Ma-Ma puts the block under lockdown.

* TheFaceless: As in the comics, Dredd's face is never seen with his helmet off. The back of his head is seen with the helmet off once as he is in the process of getting dressed for work. Even then he is heavily silhouetted leaving the view obscured.

* CoolGuns: Several.
** The Lawgiver pistols wielded by the judges are capable of firing several ammunition types and come with a silenced mode. In universe, their cool factor is lampshaded by Kay, who notes that he always wondered about it. [[spoiler: This ends badly for him, as he tries to use Anderson's Lawgiver against her and ends up triggering its security mechanism instead, blowing off his arm.]]
** The weapons used in the GatlingGood scene appear to be 6-barrel versions of the [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAU-19 GAU-19]], a real-life 3-barrel .50 caliber rotary heavy machine gun.

* AntiVillain: Clan Techie, who only works for Ma-Ma under the constant threat of violence. [[spoiler:Ma-Ma personally gouged his eyes out with her bare hands to install his cybernetic eyes.]] He's apparently not a bad guy, and clearly feels uncomfortable with Ma-Ma's treatment of Anderson. [[spoiler:At the end, he helps Dredd and Anderson into Ma-Ma's fortified hideout. Anderson insists on not punishing him for his numerous crimes, despite Dredd's reluctance.]]

--->'''Dredd:''' Inhabitants of Peach Trees. This is Judge Dredd. In case you people have forgotten, this block operates under the same rules as the rest of the city. Ma-Ma is not the law. [[CatchPhrase I am the law]]. Ma-Ma is a common criminal. Guilty of murder. Guilty of the manufacture and distribution of the narcotic known as Slo-Mo. And as of now, under sentence of death. Any who obstruct me in carrying out my duty will be treated as an accessory to her crimes. You have been warned. And as for you, Ma-Ma: [[PreAssKickingOneLiner Judgment time.]]

* CatchPhrase: Judge Dredd's iconic "I am the law." Unlike its [[LargeHam hammy]] treatment in the [[Film/JudgeDredd 1995 film]], in this film Dredd says it so casually that it's easy to miss.

* IAmTheNoun: Dredd's CatchPhrase: "I am the law." Unlike the Stallone movie, it's saved for a suitably dramatic moment (see BadassBoast).

* BeautyInversion: Not only does [[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0372176/ Lena Headey]] [[https://femalevillains.fandom.com/wiki/Madeline_Madrigal_(Dredd) have scars]] all over her face, but her hair is a mess, her teeth are in terrible shape, and she wears very basic unflattering outfits.
* BecomingTheMask: Anderson's character arc is basically leaving behind her more humanistic civilian persona and adopting that of the Judges, who are appropriately personified by the permanently-masked Dredd.

* BlindedByTheLight: When the crowd of gunmen outside the medical centre refuses to disperse after Dredd warns them, he detonates the remote speaker-ball, emitting a blinding flash of light enabling Dredd and Anderson to quickly eliminate their opponents despite being outnumbered.

* BloodySmile: As Anderson is having a mental one on one with Kay she inverts one of his fantasies of forcing her to do down on him by having it appear to be Ma-Ma who looks up at him with a bloody smile, a callback to her "feminising" her previous pimp with her teeth.

** Dredd is at the mercy of an enemy and appears to be begging for his life by saying "Wait." [[spoiler:His enemy mocks him asking him what he is waiting for until Anderson comes from behind and blows him away in a burst of automatic fire.]] At that point Dredd finishes with "For her to shoot you."

-->'''Chief Judge:''' What ''happened'' in there?
-->'''Dredd:''' Drug bust.
-->'''Chief Judge:''' You look like you've been through it.
-->'''Dredd:''' Perps were... uncooperative.

* TrappedInVillainy:Clan Techie is only working for Ma-Ma under threat of torture or death--and that's on top of her already having [[EyeScream gouged his eyes out with her thumbs]]. [[spoiler:This leads Anderson to let him go at the end]].

** A downplayed version with Dredd's EstablishingCharacterMoment where he's about to take on three men armed with automatic weapons.

*** What makes it so badass is that for Dredd it's not a boast at all, just a statement of fact.

-->'''Dredd:''' Ready?
-->'''Anderson:''' Yes sir.
-->'''Dredd:''' You don't look ready.
-->''Right before the final confrontation'':
-->'''Dredd:''' Ready?
-->'''Anderson:''' Yeah.
-->'''Dredd:''' ''(approving)'' You look ready.

* EyeScream: The Clan Techie has [[ElectronicEyes cybernetic eyes]] he uses when he's working with computers. The area around them looks pretty badly irritated, and to make matters worse [[spoiler:it's later shown that Ma-Ma gouged his eyes out with her thumbs before the surgery.]]

--> '''Dredd:''' Ma-Ma locks down the whole block and massacres an entire quadrant of men, women, and children just to kill two Judges. Sound like overkill to you? I'll tell you what I think. I think if we'd executed you in the bust, Ma-Ma would have let us walk out of here. What she doesn't want is you taken back to the sector house. She doesn't want you interrogated. She's afraid of what you might say, and that's got me curious.

--->'''Judge Dredd:''' No.

** There's a poster for a movie called ''Krysler's Mark'', referencing the "Judge Child" storyline.

* BadassBaritone: Karl Urban does a [[GutturalGrowler deep voice]] for Dredd that puts [[Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy Christian Bale's Batman]] to shame.