8. Because It Was A Different Kind Of Action Film...
Modern day action movies aren't at the same heights they'd managed to scale by the end of the eighties. Now we've outgrown Matrix wirework, bullet time and actually getting actors to learn kung fu, we've regressed to obvious stunt men, boring fight scenes without any real peril, and the camera shaking like it's on top of a broken washing machine (but without any of the fun that can be) so you can't tell what the hell's going on, who's getting shot or where anyone is. One of the reasons Dredd works so well not only as a comic book movie but an action movie, is because the action manages to avoid most of those pitfalls. There's always a palpable sense of space; the film being set in one location helps, but you also always know where everything is in an action scene. When's the last time you could say that about a big set piece in a Michael Bay film? The other thing about the action, compared to the PG-13 fare we're more used to in summer blockbusters: Dredd was violent. Like, really violent. Especially in those slowed-down parts like the photo above, where time moves at a molasses pace similar to how users of the drug slo-mo see the world, blood splatters across the screen with abandon. This is something big movies have to avoid in order to reach a wider audience, but it also desensitizes us to how messed up it is when people get shot. Dredd is brutal, bloody, and - weirdly - kinda grounded in reality.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
