Dredd is a science fiction action film that takes the Quaalude effect to its logical extreme: the primary MacGuffin of this 'Die Hard meets Dystopian Dirty Harry' flick is a drug that is literally referred to as "Slo-Mo". When under the effects of this drug, the user experiences life much like an over cranked camera: everything is ridiculously bright and over-saturated, and all movement takes ages to accomplish, like they're all encased in invisible molasses. While the scene from the Untouchables was slowed down to clarify and intensify, the use of Slo-Mo in Dredd has the complete opposite effect: the goal is to put the camera behind the eyes of a bunch of drugged-out gang bangers who aren't thinking clearly enough to comprehend what's going on. When Dredd's bullets pierce through the bodies of the gangsters, the images are so detached from regular motion, they become almost beautiful. In retrospect this scene plays out as if Jordan Belfort and his cohorts were street level thugs getting attacked by the eponymous Judge. But it becomes evident by the end of the film that the stylization and colour palette of these "Slo-Mo" scenes make them some of the most hauntingly gorgeous violence in modern cinema.
Self-evidently a man who writes for the Internet, Robert also writes films, plays, teleplays, and short stories when he's not working on a movie set somewhere. He lives somewhere behind the Hollywood sign.
