CURSED EDGE PROG -1 (JUDGE DREDD FAN FILM) REVIEW

Not too long ago I was blown away by fan film called Judge Minty. Although Old Stoney Face made but a brief cameo (played by Greg Staples) the bulk of the 27 minute film was carried by the excellent Edmund Dehn, It was quite possibly the best half hour I spent on Youtube!

Fast forward a few months and we have another fan film entitled Cursed Edge to keep us entertained while we wait for a Dredd movie sequel (hey, a guy can dream can’t he?!). It is directed by Oliver Hollingdale, and I first heard about Oliver’s endeavours to make the film on the 2000AD Online forum. From the offset you could see the passion he had for the project and getting it made. The first part of the film, or Prog -1, premiered on Youtube recently to positive reviews. But there had been some dissenting voices too, most of the criticisms were levelled toward the acting and the potrayal of MC-1. My own thoughts are it was a good opening episode…. but it could’ve been better.

First of all, the good points;

1. The opening was great. Nice use of CGI for the title and views of the Cursed Earth

2. Excellent score, very evocative of the movie version, which no doubt was a big influence

3. The main actor, Kiarnie Camp who plays undercover Judge Hollister, puts in a great performance. I must say she looks very fetching in her blue wig!

4. Nice use of location shoots; it’s clear a portion of it was filmed in the red light district of Amsterdam. It gives a flavour of the seedier sides of Dredd’s universe.

And the bad points;

1. The sound mix was terrible. It could’ve been better as was evidenced in the prior fan film who managed to do a better job also on low budget.

2. The acting especially from the main baddie was poor. The American accents were really shaky, and didn’t help the sometimes poor dialogue

3. It took far too long to get into the meatier parts of the story. The first half was spent with our protagonist just walking around. And while it does help to set up the world, I felt too much time was spent dwelling in it with no benefit toward the plot whatsoever.

But if you look through the good and bad points, the good obviously outweighs the bad. I was not overly blown away by this opening episode, nonetheless I did still enjoy it. I also realise the amount of time and effort that was put into making the film, so I must take my hat off to the Oliver and his fellow creators. I look forward to Prog 2 and hope it builds on the story.

You can watch the film on the following link;

2000AD PROG 1855 REVIEW

A nice little cover by Mark Harrison but a bit of a comedown from last weeks absolute corker of a cover (see prog 1854 review). The colour composition could’ve been a bit better. The light green tone of the logo almost blends into the background, but then that was probably the point anyway.

Judge Dredd: Prey (Part One) – A great opener to this new story by T.C. Eglington and Karl Richardson. Eglington’s dialogue is great especially the opening exchange between Hershey and Dredd. I love Karl’s artwork, his rendering of Dredd is really great, not to mention his helmet. An excellent set up too with interesting characters, Doctor Danes and Nurse Burleigh and their charity Without Frontiers working in the city’s wastelands and helping the survivors. But all is not as rosy as it seems if the shocking last panel is anything to go by. Dredd may not have any jurisdiction here, but we all know it’s him they’ll turn to when the shit hits the fan. Great stuff, looking forward to the next episode with great fervour.

Brass Sun: The Diamond Age (Part Six) – another excellent episode with our protagonists finding themselves in the late Duke’s mindbogglingly massive library, with our heroine Wren looking for a particular book. They are assisted by a very tall chap ‘ Whisper’, who is the librarian, and his assistants called ‘bookworms’ or basically very short men. Whisper reacts zealously when Wren equates it to slavery (which it is) especially when you see them in the stacks. The scenes have a really macabre feel to them, and I.N.J Culbard’s art and colours are really gorgeous here. There’s a purple tinge to the whole episode which is a nice stylistic touch.

Flesh: Badlanders (Part Six) – Flesh was great. I’m slowly getting into it. James McKay’s artwork is excellent, his two page splash of the ‘dinosaur rodeo’ at the beginning is marvellous.

Aquila: Where All Roads Lead ( Part Five) – We come to the conclusion of this outstanding story, and my only complaint with the series would be that it was too damn short! Before it started I didn’t know if I would enjoy it but boy was I wrong, it was arguably the best thing in the prog the last few weeks alongside Brass Sun and Judge Dredd. In this concluding episode, Aquila and his friend face off against the Veiled Virgin, well at least Aquila does while his sidekick legs it! Aquila is captured by the devious Nero and the witch Locusta, and is coerced into becoming his ‘divine executioner’, or ‘Carnifex’. And thus we have to bid farewell for now to this magnificent strip. Gordon Rennie, Patrick Goddard and co have done a superb job and I hope we see the same talents involved on its return.

Damnation Station: The Tail of the Dragon (Part Three) – More entertaining stuff, a re-read can do wonders. Wasn’t too excited on first helpings, second helpings proved more satisying!

So a pretty decent prog overall. The stand out is Judge Dredd, Brass Sun and Aquila. Looking forward to Tharg’s 3riller next prog, which takes the place of Aquila. The teaser for the upcoming Anserson story in ‘Thrills of the Future’ looks interesting; Mike Dowling’s artwork looks great.

4/5

2000AD PROG 1854 REVIEW

Phooaaawwwrrrr! What an awesome cover by Cliff Robinson & Dylan Teague! And coming just a week after Dave Kendall’s superb Flesh cover; Tharg is clearly spoiling us! This along with Kendall’s cover is quite easily my favourite of the year, now just don’t tell me to pick between the two because my thrill circuits will surely fry!

Judge Dredd: New Tricks (Part Five) comes to a close this issue, and there’s a really funny twist to end proceedings as we uncover the real identity of the Goblin King. I must say I never saw that one coming! Everything from Mike Caroll’s script, Paul Davidson’s art and Chris Blythe’s colours, has been a pleasure to behold the past few weeks. As I mentioned before the underground setting also worked a treat, I would love to see more stories set in this vast underground city (which is essentially New York) in the future. Not to mention more of the characters esp. Pax and Joyce.

Brass Sun: The Diamond Age (Part Five) is coming along nicely. Wren and her companions have escaped the clutches of the late Duke and his daughter and find themselves in a stunning temple, squabbling amongst each other while in the mean time, the headless Duke sits on his throne while his traitorous daughter colludes with the enemy. It’s a really macabre and darkly funny scene, brought to life by I.N.J Culbard’s magnificent craftsmanship. The last shot of the vast library which Wren needs to visit, was also superb (and funnily reminded me of Monsters Inc, and the final showdown in the ‘door library’!).

Flesh: Badlanders (Part Five) was really enjoyable. The opener with our protagonist McG talking about a tragic moment in his life, was excellent. A slimy friend of his dabbles in ‘time distortion’ pills, and at the same time his lover Zeta complains of horrific dreams. It all comes to a head in a tragic manner, but not before the ‘Speedophile’ gets his comeuppance. I really liked McG’s character, I think part of that stems from the fact he looks like Ron Perlman! This was a really great episode, and I hope it continues. Great work here from Pat Mills and James McKay.

Aquila: Where All the Roads Lead (Part Four) is getting pretty nail biting now as the Veiled Virgin closes in on our hero Aquila and his sidekick. There’s some more conspiring and divining between Nero and his witch companion, and we learn a little about the Veiled Virgin’s horrific past. It’ll be sad to see this superb strip come to its conclusion next prog; Gordon Rennie, Patrick Goddard have done a magnificent job and alongside Brass Sun and Judge Dredd, it’s my favourite Thrill.

Damnation Station: The Tail of the Dragon (Part Two) was a fun little episode. Joe Nowhere and his crew are intercepted by an enemy vessel and crash land on a jungle planet. I must admit it reminded me of Star Trek for a moment, but what the heck, it was fun! Mark Harrison’s art is brilliant here, some of the panels almost leap off the page. It suits the story well. This is the first time since the one off story (starring Sean Connery!) that I’ve enjoyed this strip. More of the same please Mr. Ewing!

So a very solid prog overall, I enjoyed ALL the thrills contained within its pages. ‘Thrills of the Future’ includes a snippet from the new upcoming Grey Area story, and looking at Goddard’s artwork here I must say I can’t wait! The last time I read Grey Area (around the time I jumped on board) I really enjoyed it, so looking forward to the new series.

5/5