Dredd vs. The Mummy

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1 comments

I'll admit that I might have been a bit too harsh on "The Mummy" in the past. I first saw it when I was 11, and naturally I thought it was great. Over the years I've discredited it as crappy schlock, but then again, it is mildly funny in a camp, rip-roaring way which Stephen Sommers seems to have built his cinematic oeuvre upon. In contrast, I have never been a big fan of "Dredd", and honestly don't see the appeal of it. Yes it has some gritty production design (like most alternative Sci-Fi/Action films these days), and yes it has some admittedly cool uses of slow-motion which actually doesn't become overused (genuine props), but ultimately it commits the cardinal sin no action film should commit; BORING! Seriously, I never thought a +/- 90 minute film would ever feel so ploddingly slow, and all the time I felt I could be watching the near-identically plotted yet infinitely more exciting Indonesian flick "The Raid". Admittedly I was very excited for Dredd, but when the main positive note to take away from it as a whole is "it wasn't as bad as the Stallone film", that's not a good sign. It seems to have become a cult favourite on the internet, but largely forgotten almost one year down the line by the rest of the world, much like "Looper", and considering that it failed to break even, let alone make a profit, it seems to have dragged whatever franchise could be milked out of 2000AD comics back into the abyss of development hell. So divergent rant aside, I would much rather go and watch "The Mummy" again; at least it never forgot what it was and pulled no punches.

I respect all the design aesthetics of Dredd, while The Mummy has a 13-year head start on accumulating my favour. I'll keep these two films ranked as close as possible.