Tons of action? You call a few shootout sequence that last like a minute tons of action?
I do agree with you on that point The Raid though. The thugs in the movie sure can take beating that no normal human could but it doesn't change the fact that it is a hard pounding movie from start to finish. The payoff is there you see.
Dredd to me spends alot of time building up but never really giving the expected payoff. The ending while poetic is also anti-climatic. The corrupt judges put a nice spin on things but also lasted way to short. They should have really show up earlier, it would be exciting to have both judges being hunted by Ma Ma and the corrupt judges.
The only threat Dredd ever face was from those judges. Those perps got nothing on him. I never felt that Dredd was in any particular danger at all. The injury he took near the end was impactful but next thing you know, he is walking around like it doesn't matter.
You can say all you want on how other more expensive movies have got nothing on Dredd but apparently they do since they are making money and sequels are coming. Not that I am a fan of Avatar but one can't deny the commercial success of these movies.
Dredd is in conclusion a missed opportunity. Maybe they really should have find more money before making it. They took a gamble and it didn't pay off and now potentially really kill Dredd for good on the big screen.
That said, I like the movie yet at the same time, it is easy to see why it failed.
