As a guy, I am naturally a huge fan of action movies. As a geek, I am naturally a fan of the more esoteric action movies, like the sub-genres of sci-fi action, action horror, and so on. Do these sub-genres actually exist outside of my own mind? I have no idea, but I'm pretending they do for the purposes of this blog, as I am way too lazy to actually go look that shit up.
Judge Dredd, made way, WAY back in the forgettable 90's, with Sylvester Stallone and Armand Assante, was a pretty decent sci-fi action movie for its time, and introduced the movie-going public to Judge Dredd, a genetically enhanced Enforcer of the Law in the Mega-cities of the near future. Dredd, with Karl Urban, seems to be an episode in the life of Judge Dredd, either before or after the events of that 1995 movie. If I had to guess, I would say it was before, which would make Dredd a prequel, though it felt more like the introduction to a TV series than a prequel. If there WAS a Dredd series in development that was going to star Karl Urban, I am sorry I haven't heard about it, because from the look of this movie, it would have been very good.
Dredd (2012) begins with Judge Dredd on an assignment. There is no character development in this movie on the part of Judge Dredd. Audiences are assumed to be familiar with the character from past experience. On the plus side, no character development is really necessary. Dredd is tracking down and enforcing justice on a gang of drug-addicted murderers, and gets a rookie along for the ride so he can evaluate her. Karl Urban plays Dredd in this movie, and though his voice is clearly recognizable if you've seen him in things like Red (with Bruce Willis) and whatever other movies he's been in, he never once, in the entire film, removes his helmet, which covers most of his face. The rookie, on the contrary, never wears a helmet, which allows us to see that she's a relatively cute mutant chick. And by mutant, I don't mean she has 3 eyeballs or anything, I mean, she's a telepath or something like that. Her extrasensory abilities allow her to assist Dredd in tracking the gang members down and finding the source of the drug that's infesting the mean streets, and that trail leads to a giant skyscraper apartment building. Unfortunately, an entire gang of murderous thugs calls this apartment building their home, and Dredd and the rookie cop get locked inside with them and a bunch of relatively innocent civilians who get caught in the crossfire.
I liked Dredd. I saw a movie once where a bunch of cops are trying to clean a gang of thugs out of a giant apartment building like this when the zombie apocalypse happens, and it doesn't end well. The tight corridors, maze-like hallways and multiple levels allow for some dizzying chases and escapades, and there's always a few innocents who get slaughtered along the way. Dredd felt a lot like that movie, tense action and lots of firefights, explosions and the like to satisfy most action-junkies. I can't say the stunts or action or whatever were especially awesome or anything, because Dredd didn't seem to break any new ground here, but there were a lot of flying bullets and enough gore to go around. If this had been a series, or is going to be a series of Dredd movies, I'd sure watch them, just for the action. Also, the lead gang-banger was played by Lena Headey, the queen from 300 and Sarah Connor from the Sarah Connor Chronicles. And of course, currently playing as the Queen in Game of Thrones. Can't forget that one. Apparently she plays a lot of queens and Moms. In any case, she's cute and plays a mean villain. :-)
Solomon Kane was a bit of a fantasy-horror-action type of thing. James Purefoy stars as Solomon Kane, an ex-pirate captain who ends up changing his ways out of sheer terror after an encounter with demons from hell. Swearing off violence and raping and pillaging, Solomon is booted out of the monastery where he's been hiding from the forces of hell and accompanies a family of pilgrims who are heading to the New World. Which, for those of you who don't know, would be the Americas. However, before the nice family that has taken in Solomon can reach the coast and board a ship, they are slaughtered by a band of devil-worshipping thugs who kidnap the eldest daughter and whisk her away as a gift for the local land-owner, who has taken over Solomon's ancestral castle, imprisoned his father and generally mucked up Solomon's life from the get-go. Solomon, never very successful at giving up his life of violence anyway, returns to full-on slaughter mode and gets to tracking down the evil thugs and dispatching them with gory vengeance. All in the name of good, of course.
I wasn't particularly fond of Solomon Kane. For one, it seemed like James Purefoy was having much more fun as the villain than he did as the hero. it was almost like watching the Wicked Witch of the West pretend to be the Good Witch of the North. It just didn't seem right, somehow. Some of the action sequences were pretty decent, but for someone who is chosen because of his incredible fighting prowess, the sudden and inexplicable appearance of a pistol in his hand at an opportune moment seems, I don't know... Too easy a way out, I guess. This movie also seemed like the beginning of a series or a series of movies, but honestly, Solomon Kane isn't something I'd want to watch unless they picked a different lead actor. James Purefoy makes an excellent villain, but as hero material, leaves something to be desired.
Of the two action movies, if you had only one to watch, I'd say go with Dredd. It's solid action. There's no surprises, and no quarter. Almost gritty, I'd say, without a lot of futuristic special effects. There's a lot of computer-generated special effects and a few scary moments in Solomon Kane provided by demonic appearances, which is always cool, but even they can't save that movie from being totally unwatchable a second time around. Dredd was much better, and I'd certainly give it another watch if it ever shows up on TV or anything. Both movies are currently available on Netflix, if nowhere else.
That's it for this month! Prepare yourselves for the HALLOWEEN HORROR MOVIE REVIEW-A-THON starting tomorrow! W00T! That time of year is here! Horror movies! Yay! Yippeeee! Wheeeeee!
Yea, I know. I don't get out much nowadays. I'll take my thrills where I can find them. :-D
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