Dredd is that rarity among comic-book films; a small movie. That's not a criticism. It lets it be a good movie.
Constraints help creativity, and this seems to bear out the theory. A relatively small budget meant that the scope isn't the fate of the 800 million people of Mega-City One, but rather one 200-floor tower-block slum, "The Peach Trees". A triple murder there draws the attention of Dredd and his rookie companion, the psychic Judge Anderson, out on her evaluation shift and green as hell. Very soon after the two Judges enter the building, the criminal gang who control the tower take over its control room and activate war-mode lockdown, trapping them inside with the gang. The Judges are well-armed and well-trained, but the gang have the numbers and the ruthlessness to set a near impossible challenge.
This combines some well-worn action movie and cop-movie tropes, but it works. Especially, this makes the movie approachable for non-fans, I think. For fans, it changes some things, primarily making the uniforms more understated, but the "feel" is right.
Small, but powerful.
Dredd is that rarity among comic-book films; a small movie. That's not a criticism. It lets it be a good movie.
Constraints help creativity, and this seems to bear out the theory. A relatively small budget meant that the scope isn't the fate of the 800 million people of Mega-City One, but rather one 200-floor tower-block slum, "The Peach Trees". A triple murder there draws the attention of Dredd and his rookie companion, the psychic Judge Anderson, out on her evaluation shift and green as hell. Very soon after the two Judges enter the building, the criminal gang who control the tower take over its control room and activate war-mode lockdown, trapping them inside with the gang. The Judges are well-armed and well-trained, but the gang have the numbers and the ruthlessness to set a near impossible challenge.
This combines some well-worn action movie and cop-movie tropes, but it works. Especially, this makes the movie approachable for non-fans, I think. For fans, it changes some things, primarily making the uniforms more understated, but the "feel" is right.