Dredd

Best known as the centerpiece of the British Comic Book 2000 A.D., the Ultra-Lawman Judge Dredd already saw cinematic life in the same-titled 1995 critical dud. Now, seventeen years after Sylvester Stallone became the law, Karl Urban is the new face of Justice in Dredd.

In yet another post-apocalyptic future, much of humanity is crammed into gigantic Mega Cities. Since law and order is slim, the Police (called Street Judges) now have the power of Judge, Jury and Executioner. In Mega City One, the best known of these Judges is, of course, Dredd.

One day, Dredd gets assigned to evaluate a prospective new Judge, the Psychic Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby). For their first assignment, the duo investigate a triple homicide in the gigantic Slum Tower called Peach Trees. On the top floor, there's Ma-Ma (Lena Heady), who manufactures the aptly named narcotic “Slo-Mo.” Realizing the law's after her, Ma-Ma locks down the tower and sends her flunkies after the heroes. And so, to get out, Dredd and Anderson have to go up to face Ma-Ma.

This Dredd is guilty of being perfectly visual. While it is incredibly gory, much of it is done incredibly artistically. Best of all is the 3D Slo-Mo effects, which are wonderfully colorful and surreal. Its sprawling cityscape, filmed mainly in Cape Town, is an amazing blend of production design and cinematography. These visual wonders make the most of its $45 million budget, half the cost of Stallone's version.

Amidst the carnage, there's Judge Dredd himself, who gets the film's best laughs while remaining perfectly serious. By the end of the film, even the act of threatening Dredd is funny because it's doomed to fail. Just how it fails is only the punchline. Even though he never removes his face-concealing helmet, Urban makes Dredd into the perfect, reasonable lawman of any time.

Made for 3D screens, Dredd also looks wonderful on flatscreens. Story-wise, it's perfectly accessible for those not familiar with the comic book. If you can withstand the ultra-violence, then this film will certainly make the most of your day.

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Beasts of the Southern Wild is one of the strangest films to come out this year. At the same time, it proves its worth by being one of the most visually stunning films around.

Young Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) lives with her father Wink (Dwight Henry) in the Southern Community called "the Bathtub." One night, a massive storm floods the community. As Hushpuppy imagines it, fierce creatures called Aurochs have now been freed from the Ice Caps. Outside of her imaginary world, her community is falling apart and Wink's health is fading. To survive these changes, Hushpuppy has to grow up.

Based on Lucy Alibar's one-act play, Juicy and Delicious, the film was written by Alibar and director Benh Zeitlin. Amongst the crew Zeitlin assembled, the greatest standouts are production designer Alex DiGerlando and cinematographer Ben Richardson. Together, the two effectively create "the Bathtub" as an apocalyptic community even before the storm comes. It's an amazing site to behold, even if it actually is kind of bleak.

As Hushpuppy, Wallis's debut role is the film's standout. Her perception of the world is so innocent, yet her will to survive is fierce. She headlines the cast from her first scene onwards, never losing the audience's interest once. In addition to her, the entire cast is made up of newcomers, and they are all believable in their roles.

For some, its bleak real life setting might destroy their enjoyment of the film's fantasy. But for me, this is a great film about facing the realities of the world, both good and bad. For that reason, Beasts of the Southern Wild should be sought out if you can find it.

Lawless

As Summer begins to wind down, it's now the time for films that'll be more seriously considered Oscar Contenders. One of the first out is the real-life Crime Pic called Lawless. If this film wins Oscars, then it'll because it looks and sounds great, and not because it is great.

In 1931, brothers Forrest (Tom Hardy), Howard (Jason Clarke) and Jack Bondurant (Shia LaBeouf) are in the bootlegging business. In their Virginia Community, their business thrives thanks to the Cops who happily buy from them. One day, the evil Special Agent Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce) comes to town. He demands that the brothers turn their business over to him, or else he'll send them up the river. The Brothers refuse, and that refusal leads to war.

And that's all you need to know about the plot.

Documented in the book The Wettest County in the World by Jack's grandson Matt, the story was screen-written by musician Nick Cave. It's a story that's slow to unfold, and liable to test many attention spans. Consequentially, a few plot points got lost in the shuffle. Fortunately, its most violent scenes were effective attention grabbers.

Amongst the performances, their are three that stand out. As Rakes, Guy Pearce did his job well, playing the snide villain one would wish dead at the end of his first scene. Gary Oldman, as a rival bootlegger, was the best underused character in all of his two scenes. And Tom Hardy, as Forrest, is the strong, silent type who is surprisingly very durable.

Also adding to the film are Benoit Delhomme's impressive photography, as well as the violent, forceful sound effects. The Music Score, composed by Cave and Warren Ellis, is one of the most memorable collection of country tunes on-screen. These are the aspects that are most liable to give their movie Oscar notice in a few months. And if they win, they'll be most deserving of the Awards.

While Lawless wants to be something great, it is instead something decent. Those wanting to view history unfold on-screen won't be disappointed. They just shouldn't expect to see much film history unfold on-screen.