Dredd

America is an irradiated wasteland.

Within it lies a city.

Outside the boundary walls a desert.

A cursed earth.

Inside the walls a cursed city,

stretching from Boston to Washington, D.C.

An unbroken concrete landscape.

800 million people living in the ruin of the old world

and the mega structures of the new one.

Mega blocks. Mega highways.

Mega City One.

Convulsing. Choking.

Breaking under its own weight.

Citizens in fear of the street.

The gun. The gang.

Only one thing fighting for order in the chaos,

the men and women of the Hall of Justice.

Juries.

Executioners.

Judges.

Responders needed at a square at 1117. Code 10-10.

Leisure complex. Shots fired.

Out of vehicle, in pursuit. Request aerial surveillance.

I have a control drone flagging three perps.

Responders needed in Sub-Sector 20, Flyover 5.

We have a positive ID on three suspects wanted on multiple counts.

Any Judges, please respond.

Dredd to Control. In pursuit of vehicle, Sector 13.

Driving erratic. Suspects are under the influence of narcotics.

Got a Judge on our tail.

What?

I said we got a Judge on our tail!

Take him out or we're dead fucking meat!

Fuck!

Do you require backup?

No.

Fucker!

I can't get him! Straighten the fuck out!

Be advised. We have lost visual.

Fuck, he's right on us!

Man, we're dead. We're fucking dead!

Control. Perps just wiped out an innocent. I'm taking them down.

Bike. Activate crowd control.

Activated. Citizens, be calm. Step back from the crime scene.

Interference carries an automatic five-year sentence in the iso-cubes.

Hey, fucking get out of here!

Control. Paramedics to my GPS. Multiple wounded and bodies for resyk.

Copy, Dredd.

All shoppers are reminded to avoid the level one food courts until further notice.

-Alternative refreshments can be found... -Shut the fuck up.

-Let's talk. -Talk about what, Judge?

Release the hostage unharmed,

and I guarantee you a sentence of life in an iso-cube without parole.

Life without parole? That's the deal you're offering?

Only if you comply.

Your crimes include multiple homicide and the attempted murder of a Judge.

If you do not comply, the sentence is death.

You aren't a very good negotiator, Judge.

You know why? You got no fucking leverage!

Here's the deal. You let me walk or I blow her fucking brains out. Okay?

Negotiation's over.

What are you doing?

Didn't you hear what I said? I'll ill the bitch!

Yeah, I heard you, hotshot.

What?

I said "hotshot."

Control to Dredd. Come in.

-Is your pursuit resolved? -Affirmative.

Report back to the Hall of Justice. The Chief Judge wants to see you.

Thank you, Judge.

The level one food court will reopen in 30 minutes. Thank you for your patience.

Cassandra Anderson. Twenty-one.

Born in a block 100 meters from the radiation boundary wall.

At age seven, she lost both parents to residual-fallout cancer.

As is usual with orphans, she was given a Judge aptitude test at age nine.

It classified her as unsuitable,

but she was entered into the Academy on special instruction.

In the Academy, her record was never better than borderline.

Her final Academy score put her three percentile points below a pass.

So what's she doing in a uniform?

-Rookie Anderson. -Sir.

How many people are observing you?

Two.

What can you tell me about the person I'm with?

Male. Another Judge.

I can feel anger. And control. But

there's something else.

Something behind the control. Something

-almost... -Okay, Anderson.

That will do.

She's a mutant.

The Judges Council have chosen to overlook her status. So you will, too.

She's the most powerful psychic we've ever come across by a huge margin.

The Judges are losing the war for the city.

We believe she could be a major asset.

As I said, her final score was only three points below a pass. It's marginal.

-It's not marginal. She failed. -The girl's getting one more chance.

I want you to take her out, give her one day in the field. Supervised.

See if she makes the grade.

Sink or swim. Chuck her in the deep end.

It's all the deep end.

Personnel are required to carry identification at all times.

A rookie Judge on assessment is likely to be involved in armed combat.

One in five don't survive the first day.

You may be required to carry out on-the-spot executions of convicted felons.

Yes, sir.

Incorrect sentencing is an automatic fail.

Disobeying a direct order from your assessment officer is an automatic fail.

Losing your primary weapon or having it taken from you is an automatic fail.

Yes, sir.

-Are you ready, rookie? -I am.

Mandatory vehicle checks...

Your assessment starts now.

Ma.

We got trouble.

They were selling Sternhammer product on my level.

I warned them off with a beating a couple of weeks ago. Guess it didn't work.

-You can't deal with it yourself? -I can deal with it.

The question is whether you wanna make an example of them.

Skin them. Toss them over the balcony.

Hit them with a little Slo-Mo first?

Sure.

Eat this, fucker!

Hold him down!

Please. Please.

Please.

Responders in the vicinity of Peach Trees. We have a report of a triple homicide.

The paramedic is on site and is cordoning off the area.

Twelve serious crimes reported every minute.

17,000 per day.

-We can respond to around 6%. -Which 6%?

Your show, rookie. You tell me.

Peach Trees. Multiple homicide.

Dredd to Control. We'll take Peach Trees.

Copy that.

Hey, Joey, show us what you've got.

Okay, rookie. What do you know about Peach Trees?

Sir. Peach Trees houses 75,000 registered citizens.

It has the highest crime rate in Sector 13. Unemployment rate of 96%.

And more than half the residential levels here are classed as slums.

Rookie.

Judgment.

Vagrancy, three weeks, iso-cubes. But prioritize murders?

Correct. Don't be here when we get back.

Yes. Thanks, Judge.

Please remain behind the security tape.

So why do you wanna be a Judge?

Sir. I want to protect and serve the city. To make a difference.

Make a difference to a block like this?

It's yours if you want it.

I was born and raised in a block like this before the Justice Department took me.

I know there are good people inside, good families just trying to get by.

Yes, I believe I can make a difference.

Admirable.

The mall will be closing today at 10 o'clock. Plenty of time to make your purchases.

What have you got?

Three stiffs in a somewhat fucked-up condition.

Did you get a picture of that?

-You based in Peach Trees? -Med Center, level 25.

-You ID'd them? -Mostly.

These two are registered to this block.

-And him? -I'll have to run his blood

through a DNA prof tier.

If I can figure out which blood is his.

What do you make of this, rookie?

I don't know, sir.

It's a cold-burn from a Slo-Mo inhaler.

Slo-Mo?

Only just hit the grid, but it's making big waves.

Makes the brain feel as if time is passing at 1% its normal speed.

Guess it felt like a long way down.

Positive on your IDs.

All showing convictions for possession of narcotics. Transmitting data now.

Small-time perps. Junkies. No known gang affiliation. What's your analysis?

Drugged. Skinned. Displayed in public.

I think it's a punishment killing. Someone's trying to send a message.

Yeah. Don't fuck with the Ma-Ma clan.

Ma-Ma clan?

We have her on record from her whoring days.

The picture's pretty old,

but that's her. Madeline Madrigal, aka Ma-Ma.

Ex-hooker from the S-9 pleasure district.

Quit working when she got sliced up by a pimp. She got her own back.

Block legend says she's feminized the guy with her teeth.

Took over his business interests and never looked back.

Anyone else, you'd say it was bullshit, right?

Not with Ma-Ma. Her trademark is violence.

Not so long ago, there were three main gangs hustling for control of Peach Trees.

The Peyote Kings, the Red Dragons, the Judged.

Then Ma-Ma arrived.

What the fuck?

Let's go!

Took over the top floor of the block and started working her way down.

Nine months later, she had control of everything.

Levels one to 200

are hers.

How did she get away with it?

You know how often we get a Judge up in Peach Trees?

Well, you got one now.

The victims are registered to apartments on level 39.