2. Like A Video Game
Most video game developers are good at telling an action-centric story. Games like Max Payne 3, Lollypop Chainsaw and the recent Transformers: Fall Of Cybertron all follow the same formula. You work your way through a set number of levels that increase in difficulty. You eventually fight the final boss and if successful, you are rewarded with the conclusion to the story. It's a structure that is instantly recognizable to anyone who plays video games and it is a safe bet that the people who will get the most from a film like Dredd, probably enjoy the occasional session on the Xbox. So it was good to see Alex Garland construct his film very much like a video game. Dredd makes his way up the tower, facing an increasing number of Ma Ma's cannon fodder, throw in a few memorable set pieces to mix things up, and conclude the film with a boss fight at the top of the tower. It is a structure that works well for a film like this and it gives it a feel of a 1980's action movie, a genre that has inspired many video game designers. Making Dredd essentially a live action video game was a smart move, it complimented the setting and the violence, and it will ensure that Dredd is a film that people will enjoy 20 years down the line in the same way Terminator is now.