History Film / Dredd

* PrettyLittleHeadshot: An example that doesn't involve a head but fits the spirit of the trope. When [[spoiler:one of the corrupt judges shoots Dredd through a wall with an armor piercing round, the bullet pretty cleanly pieces all the way through Dredd out the front of his armor, leaving a pretty small and clean hole. Yet after Dredd drops to the ground, we see the wall that he was shot through has a rather large hole in it, much larger than the hole from Dredd's wound.]]

** In keeping with his tradition of engaging in this trope in the comic series [[spoiler: one possible interpretation of Dredd giving Anderson a pass despite the loss of her firearm is that the rules of the assessment are that losing her ''Primary Weapon'' is an automatic fail and given Anderson is a psychic his passing her is an acknowledgment that her primary weapon is her psychic abilities.]]

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: Ma-Ma orders her mooks to make it look like the Judges walked in on a gang turf war and were shot in the cross fire. In this CrapsackWorld, it would count as an 'accidental' death.

* OneBulletLeft: Dredd, when cornered by [[spoiler:corrupt Judges]] and out of standard ammo, takes a desperation shot with his last remaining round: a [[StuffBlowingUp Hi-Ex]]. The victim's head explodes, making sure he won't be a problem. Unfortunately, this also clues in the last one that his gun is now empty.

* OrphansPlotTrinket: Anderson's photo of her parents which also functions as a TragicKeepsake. Anderson's parents had died of cancer and her desire to help those who grew up in bad block like she did drives her to become a Judge.

** Dredd also elects to stun, rather than kill, two would be young gang members after his attempt to intimidate them into surrender failed. This after killing gang members outright and ordering Anderson to carry out a execution sentence on a wounded criminal that was trying to kill them.

** Dredd's backup gets locked outside the building by the techie who covers with a story that it 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]].

* 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, doses her up with Slo-Mo, [[DestinationDefenestration then tosses her out the window]]]].

* RedFilterOfDoom: When Peach Trees gets locked down with anti-nuke sealing, everything is dipped in ominous deep red lighting.

* {{Satire}}: Like the comics, it plays off the desensitizing of the population due to the graphic violence that surrounds them. After a shootout and Dredd executing a perp, you see a cleaning machine go by, wiping up the mess and trailing a cart of dead bodies, with an announcement that the food court would reopen in a half hour sounding in the background. Also, near the beginning, when Dredd and Anderson go to Peach Trees to investigate the murders of the three men dropped from the top floor, there's a rather large group of people standing around the dead bodies, one of them taking pictures with his cellphone.

** Anderson's equipment starts out pristine showing her to be a rookie and new to the mean streets of Mega City One. As the movie progresses and Anderson earns her title as a Judge, her equipment becomes increasingly scarred and showing signs of wear and tear like Dredd's.

* SchizoTech: The film happens in a future far enough that there exist such thing as autonomous robots, cybernetic eyes and kilometre-high buildings as wide as several present-day skyscrapers and housing many tens of thousands of people each; however, said massive buildings stand alongside normal everyday highrises, transportation still means cars and rusty minivans not different in the slightest from the ones we have now, and - with the significant exception of Lawgivers - all the guns are exactly the same we shoot today.

** This film shows a lot of the issues that sprout up when a setting fully embraces DemocracyIsBad. People can't live together peacefully, so all that's left is the AppealToForce; which in this setting is often the ruthlessness of Dredd and his fellow judges. The situation is nearly the same as in many countries without some sort of democratic leadership. The only thing holding everything together is mutual self-interest or fear.
* ShutUpHannibal: At the end, Ma-Ma tries to intimidate Dredd [[spoiler:with the reveal of a deadman switch]], who calmly states he has already passed sentence, puts a bullet in her to disable her, [[spoiler:and then throws her through an interior window so the transmitter won't be able to send a signal through 200 floors of steel and concrete.]]

* SkyscraperCity: Mega-City One is an exaggerated version of this; there are the basic buildings, modern skyscrapers a couple dozen stories high, and horizon-dominating "mega blocks" each hundreds of feet wide and hundreds of ''stories'' high.

* SpandexLatexOrLeather: This film departs from [[http://fandangogroovers.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/judge-dredd.jpg the more faithful spandex uniform used by the Stallone film,]] instead opting for a leathery look similar to the original but closer to realistic police armor.

** Dredd figures out there's more to the triple homicide in Peach Trees than initially thought when Ma-Ma starts putting up a fight to keep them from interrogating Kay, who as far as Dredd and Anderson can tell is just a low-level dealer and doesn't warrant the kind of attention that two dead Judges would bring.

** During the flash-back explaining how she came to power her mook walks up and shoots at the camera, with the gun *very* close to Ma-Ma's ears.

* TurnInYourBadge: At the end, Anderson does this on her own, without a single prompt, [[spoiler:knowing full well that she made a couple of failable offenses in her assessment and even admitting so earlier. She then leaves, and can be seen refusing medical treatment in the distance. In the end, however, Dredd gives her a passing grade.]]

** When Anderson tells Dredd what she found in Kay's head--Ma-Ma is the source of the "Slo-Mo" drug--his only reaction is, "Interesting."

* ViceCity: Mega-City One is home to nearly a billion people, with crime so rampant that the people policing the place have to act as judge, jury, and executioner. Even then, they struggle badly--Dredd says the Justice Department is only able to respond to around 6% of calls for serious crime. (One can only imagine how many crimes don't even get reported in the first place.) Making matters worse: a fifth of all rookie Judges are killed in their first day on the job.

*** Her overreaction to Kay's capture by both locking down the building and attempting to kill them by tearing up several floors with ''gatling guns'' pretty much leads to her downfall; the collateral damage to the building wrecks a lot of her hacker's connections [[spoiler:''and'' it lets the judges communicate with the outside]], and it's such obvious overkill that Dredd figures out how important Kay really is, and has Anderson read his mind to discover that [[spoiler:all the Slo-Mo in Mega-City One is being made in Peach Trees]].

* WeHaveReserves: This is played straight in the beginning: when Kay's distribution shop is hit, Ma-Ma dismisses it as the cost of doing business... until she learns that the Judges took Kay alive. The film also averts this later: Ma-Ma refuses to execute an underling for his incompetence because Dredd has killed so many of her men that she can't afford to lose any more.
* WellTrainedButInexperienced: Anderson went through the full Judge training in the Academy, but never was in the field before. Thus despite having all the necessary skills, drills and knowledge, she initially hesitates to kill, especially when it is a flat-out execution of a wounded and helpless perp. But after the harrowing experiences she goes through, she manages to detach herself emotionally from the killing and is just as efficient as Dredd when it comes to fighting, showing it wasn't lack or insufficient training, but of the hand-on experience.

** One building is named after ''Film/{{Elysium}}'', Neill Blomkamp's follow-up film to ''Film/{{District 9}}''. Producer Alex Garland has stated Blomkamp's films were a huge factor in getting Dredd made.

* NaiveNewcomer: Anderson plays this role, but the movie inverts the usual mechanic; rather than Anderson asking Dredd questions, Dredd gives Anderson pop quizzes throughout the film as part of her assessment.

* MsFanservice: Kay imagines Anderson naked in his mind during his soon-to-expire [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Reason You Suck speech.]] It quickly becomes FanDisservice, though, when she telepathically changes his fantasy into Ma-Ma [[GroinAttack biting his dick off]]. There's a later shot of Anderson [[BareYourMidriff baring her midriff as well...]] [[AvertedTrope after she's been shot]] [[FanDisservice and Dredd is dressing the wound.]]

* EvilGloating: Invoked. Judge Dredd gets into a gunfight with a group [[spoiler:of [[DirtyCop corrupt Judges]]]] while running low on ammo, and ends up getting shot by the last one, [[spoiler:Judge Lex]]. Dredd tricks [[spoiler:Lex]] into going into a monologue by asking him to "Wait". [[spoiler:Lex]] cannot resist mocking an apparently terrified [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Judge Dredd]], but then Anderson [[ConvenientlyTimedAttackFromBehind arrives and finishes him off]]. Dredd clarifies his statement: "Wait for her to shoot you".

* EvilGloating: Invoked. Judge Dredd gets into a gunfight with a group of [[DirtyCop corrupt Judges]] while running low on ammo, and ends up getting shot by the last one, Judge Lex. Dredd tricks Lex into going into a monologue by asking him to "Wait". Lex cannot resist mocking an apparently terrified [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Judge Dredd]], but then Anderson [[ConvenientlyTimedAttackFromBehind arrives and finishes him off]]. Dredd clarifies his statement: "Wait for her to shoot you".

** The medic who initially refused to help Dredd and Anderson is shot in the head [[spoiler:by the corrupt judges after he says he would be willing to testify about what was really going on.]]

* SpottingTheThread: Dredd realizes that [[spoiler:his supposed backup]] isn't on the level when [[spoiler:one of them doesn't ask about his partner.]]

** The first victim in the food court is a [[FatSlob Fattie]] with the trademark [[http://judgedredd.wikia.com/wiki/Fattie belliwheel]] seen just to the side of his body. Another Fattie can be seen at his own apartment having his snacking interrupted at the beginning of Peach Tree's anti-nuke lockdown.

** The first victim in the food court is a [[FatSlob Fattie]] with the trademark [[http://judgedredd.wikia.com/wiki/Fattie belliwheel]] seen just to the side of his body. Another Fattie can be seen at his own apartment having his meal interrupted by Ma-Ma's message to Peach Trees.

** A "Joe Soap" billboard with Joe Saturday's face on it can be seen, referencing the classic ''2000 AD'' story "Chronocops" by Alan Moore.

** The first victim in the food court is a [[FatSlob Fattie]] with the trademark [[http://judgedredd.wikia.com/wiki/Fattie belliwheel]] seen just to the side of his body.

** During a confrontation with a pair of thugs, Anderson shoots one from below the chin; despite one bullet being enough, she keeps firing until the thug's head disintegrates.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: The three drug pushers in the beginning are skinned, dosed with Slo-Mo, then tossed off the top-floor balcony so they can experience every moment of their unavoidable deaths in agonizing detail. Because of the sheer height of the building and the effects of the drug, from their point of view it took 15-20 minutes to make the fall.

* BeautyIsNeverTarnished:
** Averted from before the film begins with Ma-Ma, who is played by the very beautiful Lena Headey, but who has very prominent facial scarring. [[spoiler: Even more averted at the end, when Dredd tosses her off a building and we see in close-up and slow motion the effect of her landing face-first on the ground two hundred storeys below.]]
** Similarly, though Anderson is played by the beautiful Olivia Thirlby, she's wounded during the film. She's visibly bruised by the end, plus looking realistically tired and mussed.

* ArmorIsUseless:
** An easy conclusion to reach, but close attention should be paid before getting there. During the initial drug bust, Dredd's armor can actually be seen deflecting a round. After this point, everyone knows they're going up against Judges and probably loaded ammo suitable for the task. The one round that does real damage to Dredd is specifically stated to be armor piercing. Even then, only the back of his armor took damage. The wall behind him was torn to shreds while the armor was barely scratched in the front. Plus, anything that can go through a concrete wall without slowing probably isn't going to be stopped by much of anything.
** In the film's final confrontation, Anderson takes a round from a crook, and if you watch closely you can actually see the bullet deflect off her armor and ricochet into the wall next to her. However, she is winded and disoriented by the impact and knocked to the ground; as seen by the initial bust, by contrast, Dredd can take a round and keep moving, owing to the size and muscle difference between him and Anderson, coupled with the strong likelihood he's taken hits before and learned to absorb the impact.
*** Actually ZigZagged - a few moments later going back down to ground level Dredd is doing first aid on Anderson, and she's got a decent hole in her side from ''another'' bullet, suggesting the armour doesn't protect evenly.
** Looking closely at Dredd's armour, it's not exactly pristine. His helmet has some prominent scratches and one of his shoulder pads has a noticeable dent. He's probably taken quite a few knocks in the line of duty since being issued that particular set.
* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: Averted. The cast shows surprisingly consistent firearms safety throughout, namely in keeping their fingers off the triggers and not randomly waving their guns around. In fact, when Dredd is going through Ma-Ma's drug lab, you can see him take his finger off the trigger when he has no targets.

* FantasticDrug: Slo-Mo, which causes the user to [[SlowMotion experience time at a fraction of its normal speed]].

* SlowMotion: InUniverse, thanks to the Slo-Mo drug that makes the user's sense of time crawl at a tiny fraction of normal while under the effects of the drug.

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

* LoopholeAbuse: Near the final confrontation, Anderson notes that [[spoiler:although she can technically no longer succeed in the test due to losing her weapon, she's still considered a judge until the evaluation is over. This means she has the power to render judgement as she sees fit, including pardoning the Clan Techie with no other evidence of his innocence than her visions.]]

* CoolGuns: 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.]]

*** Played straight in that scene actually - a few moments later going back down to ground level Dredd is doing first aid on Anderson, and she's got a decent hole in her side.

* WellTrainedButInexperienced: Anderson went through the full Judge training in the Academy, but never was in the field before. Thus despite having all the necessary skills, drills and knowledge, she initially hesitates to kill, especially when it is a flat-out execution of a wounded and helpless perps. But after the harrowing experiences she goes through, she manages to detach herself emotionally from the killing and is just as efficient as Dredd when it comes to fighting, showing it wasn't lack or insufficient training, but of the hand-on experience.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Compared to the Stallone version, this film is much more dark and gritty in tone.