Geek of Oz

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones is the first in a series of movie adaptations based upon novels by Cassandra Clare. Don’t worry I haven’t read the books either and I have to say after seeing this movie, I don't plan to. I checked out Harald Zwart’s bio (Director) and found that he’d directed Agent Cody Banks and Pink Panther 2 and well, yeah . When I read that Stephanie Meyer, of Twilight fame, said that this "is a world I love to live in." I cringed and considered what this could possibly mean.

Ever played a video game and thought this would make a good film? Well Dredd is a case of the opposite; confronting violence, paper-thin characters, atmospheric environments, simple plot points and a truly woeful script make this latest offering by Pete Travis ( Vantage Point ) seem like a first person shooter game masquerading as a movie. Dredd is based upon the UK comic book character of the same name. Employed by the Hall of Justice, he is judge, jury and executioner all wrapped up in an efficient crime-fighting package. The film is set in a not-too-distant but all-too-hackneyed future dystopia where drugs and violence have all but destroyed the fabric of society. Seem familiar? For once, I’d like an action film to depict an imagining of a future which isn’t a dysfunctional and corrupt slum-filled cesspool. It even has the ubiquitous genetic mutation element – the cliché du jour for films of this genre. We first meet Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) in hot pursuit of three armed and...