Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

From 'Batman' to 'The X-Men', any halfway successful comic book will eventually be made into a bad movie. Ok, some are worse than others. 'X-Men' was tolerable and the first 'Superman' and the First 'Batman' actually had some good moments, but 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' belongs in the sewer it is set in. And even the 'Turtles' make 'Tank Girl' look good in comparison.

But I believe comic book movies are a separate genre and should be judged that way. The characters in most comic books are as flat as the pages they are drawn on. A screenplay can try to flesh them out, but that usually ends up betraying the original character and lessening him in some way. Alternately, a writer could leave them as the caricatures they are, which makes the average movie viewer complain about the lack of depth. In my humble opinion, comic book characters are supposed to lack depth. Watch this film, or most of the others in the genre, with the mind set that it is nothing more than a moving picture version of a comic book, and they all go up appreciably in ratings.

This film is based on a comic book series popular in England called 2000AD. The setting is 200 years into the future in MegaCity One, which is built roughly where New York is today. It is a walled-in city, grossly overpopulated, and with a horrific crime rate. Our judicial system couldn't handle the volume so it has been streamlined to the point where 'Judges' are a combination of police officer, sheriff, judge, jury and executioner. The 'Street Judges' patrol the city looking for crime, which isn't hard to find. Then they apprehend the criminals, make an instant judgement as to their crimes and guilt, sentence them and carry out the sentence on spot. There is also a council of judges, which more or less run the city and apparently for a few special cases, like when another Judge breaks the law, there can even be a trial of sorts, but there are no appeals.

Sylvester Stallone plays the Title Character, Judge Dredd, who is the best and most feared of the cities Judges. He is an expert at what he does, he is fearless, and his punishments are harsh. When Billy in 'Beverly Hills Cop' goes up to a house full of machine gun toting criminals and yells "You're all under arrest" (and then gets shot at!), it's funny. When Judge Dredd uses the same line on a whole city block full of machine gun toting criminals (and gets shot at!), you don't believe for a second that they will surrender, but you somehow believe that he thinks they might. He is a living legend and he has bought into the legend himself to the point that he is no longer human.

In this case, the screenwriters did try unsuccessfully to flesh out the character. They removed his mask, which hasn't been done in the 20 plus years the comic book has been around. And they tried to get him to show his feelings, which lowers him from super hero to mere mortal. As he rides off into the sunset with his new found compassion, I fully expect the next criminal he encounters to kill him while he's contemplating the humanity of it all.

The plot involves Dredd, who lives by the law and even claims loudly "I AM the LAW", being framed for murder. He never thought it possible for the law to make such a mistake. On his way to Aspen prison, he is seated next to Fergie (Rob Schneider) who he had earlier arrested for the very minor violation of hiding in a vending machine while trying to avoid getting killed in a shootout. Although he had committed petty crimes in the past, Fergie's only real crime this time was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He appealed to Judge Dredd citing the extenuating circumstances, but Dredd is unflappable when it comes to the law. Dredd went so far as to tell him that he could have jumped from the 40 story window, admitting that it was suicide, but still preferable because it was legal. But now Dredd finds himself in the same position as Fergie, both are heading to prison unjustly. Fortunately (?) their transport is shot down by a family of cannibals that live in the area called the 'Cursed Earth' which surrounds MegaCity One. They escape and the movie changes from a RoboCop rip off to a flimsy version of the Fugitive as Dredd heads back into the city to find the real bad guy and prove his innocence.

But the real bad guy has help. It seems that Dredd's ex-partner Rico (Armand Assante), who was sent away for becoming homicidal, has been assisted by Council Judge Griffin (Jurgen Prochnow) who has plans to take over the city and become a dictator. He engineered Rico's escape and encourages him to reek havoc on the city. Of course, bad guys can't be trusted and there is a lot of back stabbing and changes in loyalties. Dredd's challenge here should be to uncover the conspiracy, catch the bad guys, restore faith in the system (or improve upon it) and generally save the day. But then we get the writers trying to humanize him again. So we also have him learning about his own fallibility, seeing the flaws in the system, and discovering his long repressed feelings and emotions, particularly compassion.

It has been reported that Stallone and director Danny Cannon had many arguments during the filming as Sly wanted to make changes to his character and his lines. Sly said in an interview after filming "As an actor, my strength will always be in the man who struggles to redemption. At the end of this picture, Judge Dredd has won two victories -- in the battle against the powers of evil, and in the battle for his own soul." Well maybe HE is to blame then for trying to turn a comic book hero into a man.

Instead of trying to make the character something he can't be, they should have paid more attention to continuity and plot. I'm about to reveal a semi-secret to the plot here in case you want to skip the rest of this paragraph.

------------SPOILER------------

If Ex-Judge Rico and Judge Dredd are clones, and they have identical DNA, why don't they look alike? On a lesser scale, if the gun can take a DNA sample from the skin of the judge without his even knowing about it, why does the cloning machine Rico uses need to stick several very large needled deep into his arm? Why is the Warden so dumb he hands his most hardened criminal a package without checking to see if contains a weapon? And why was a beautiful actress like Diane Lane put in the role of Dredd's partner if they weren't going to try to develop a love interest? And while we're at it, what caused the 'Cursed Earth' to be so barren? Why do Judges take the 'long walk'? And just what are all those citizens in the block wars fighting about anyway?

As I proof read what I have so far, it sounds fairly negative. But the odd thing is, I did enjoy it. It's campy, even when it's not meant to be. It's sappy in places it has no right to be. Every character is too flat, except those that are too 3-dimensional. The scenery is stolen straight out of 'Blade Runner' and the chases stolen from 'Return of the Jedi'. It's premise is stolen from 'Robocop' and it's plot stolen from 'The Fugitive. And the one catch phrase, "I knew you'd say that", is as lame as they come. But I still enjoyed it.

The part of Judge Dredd seems tailor made for Stallone. He is tough, imposing, monosyllabic, and nearly emotionless. If they hadn't tried to humanize Dredd, this could have been a great role for Sly. But even when his talent is stretched to the limit as he tries to show a real emotion, he still does well enough to not spoil the film. The fast pace and beautifully complex scenery help keep you from noticing the inconsistencies. And interesting characters like the Angel family add enough spice to overcome the bland dialogue.

But I think what I really liked was Fergie. I'm by no means a Rob Schneider fan. I couldn't stand him on SNL. But seeing this wimpy little guy constantly tormenting the fallen Judge is hilarious. When he scrunches up his face and says "mister I am de laaawww" in a mockery of Dredd's signature line, you want to smack him and laugh at him and shake his hand all at the same time. That he ends up helping Dredd and even becoming Dredd's friend in the end makes a better story than the main plot.

Fergie is there to help you not take the rest seriously. Without him this film would have been un-watchable. With him, OK, no Oscars here, and I don't think it would stand up to repeated viewing, but if you catch it on cable, or if the video store has a 2 for 1 rental, or if you just can't find anything else to watch, you could do worse. Sit back, grab a few snacks, turn off your brain, and enjoy.


Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older