Better than the 1995 adaptation by orders of magnitude previously unheard of in current science , Dredd kicks a lot of ass despite a story that is very familiar to action fans.

Adapted from the popular 2000 AD character Judge Dredd, this new film is not a remake of the horrible Stallone version but rather a new adaptation from the source material. In a future where much of the earth is irradiated wasteland and people are stuffed into enormous buildings in Mega City One, a city that stretches from Boston to Washington DC, crime is managed by the street judges, an elite police force that has the powers of judge, jury and executioner. The most feared and respected of all the judges is Dredd (Karl Urban), a no-nonsense badass who is tasked with assessing potential judge Anderson (Olivia Thirlby), a cadet who is mediocre to poor in training but is an enormously gifted psychic. Responding to a homicide call in the Peach Trees mega block, a huge building that holds 70,000 residents, most with less than sterling reputations, Dredd and Anderson find themselves locked in and attacked on all sides by criminals of all stripes at the order of gang leader and drug lord Mama (Lena Headey). Dredd and Anderson have no signal to their headquarters and a limited amount of ammunition to try to fight their way up the levels of the building to try to get a signal out for help and to destroy the manufacture of Slo-Mo the new narcotic Mama is pushing.

The plot for Dredd is very, very straight forward and very, very familiar to anyone who saw the Raid Redemption which is essentially the same set up as a SWAT team has to make it to the top of a building filled with criminals. The timing of when the movies came out does not suggest that one is ripping off the other and it appears to be a co-incidence. Despite the similar premise the two movies go about things in a fairly different way. Both are extremely violent and gory but the way they approach those things and why is not really that similar. Where the Raid focused on non-stop action and left story and character development to the wayside, Dredd incorporates story and character development into the mix. Not a lot but enough to give it proper texture and to let you know that this is Judge Dredd and not some random in armor shooting at people.

I don’t want this to be a review of comparisons but it is also worth mentioning that this film couldn’t be much more different than the Stallone Judge Dredd if it was a different character altogether. They share details because they are based on the same comic and there are some design elements that look similar because of that but the tone, look and writing are completely different. As much of a cliche as ‘gritty’ has become, that is what this is. Where the Stallone version was very much of the old school comic book movie variety with Stallone in tights and shiny armor spewing one liners on a cartoony set, this Dredd looks dirty and used with realistic body armor in a filthy city and Dredd in a battered helmet he never takes off. The violence in that movie was cartoony and tame as well whereas, as mentioned, the violence here is, at times, cringe-worthy.

Taken on its own, without considering source material, previous iterations and similar movies, Dredd still stands up well as the writing is good, the pacing is excellent and the movie never feels ridiculous or overindulgent. This is sci-fi and as such deals with futuristic technology and elements but it all just feels right with nothing goofy or out of place. Even the extreme effects of slo-mo which takes the movie into sparkling slow motion sequences fit well and don’t get too repetitive or goofy. The writing also manages to be clever without feeling clever, offering up dialogue that can be occasionally funny, occasionally badass but always on point to the situation and to the character. Likewise, the movie feels like it has a lot of texture in the writing as the greater world around them is mentioned and referenced without necessarily belaboring the details or getting into tons of exposition. It makes the whole thing seem bigger than it is and let’s you know that this is a small story in a big world.

From a performance standpoint, Karl Urban does a fantastic job as he is essentially acting with the lower half of his face, voice  and posture. Even things like Spider-man and Batman find excuses to pull the masks off their characters to show the actors’ faces but here the film stays true to the source material and never shows Dredd without his helmet. Urban does a metric ton with what he has and manages to get his point across without his face. His voice was particularly impressive as it sometimes has a gravely quality to it but he doesn’t feel the need to go full on cookie monster like Christian Bale’s Batman voice and still manages to sound intimidating. Olivia Thirlby does great work as Anderson and sees the majority of the character growth as she starts out timid and weak and ends decisive and strong. Sure, this is pretty standard for the material but she does a great job of it. Lena Headey is terrific as usual as the villain and does it here looking like maybe she died three weeks ago and no one bothered to mention it to her. She makes for an intimidating and credible threat and a worthy adversary for Dredd.

Conclusion [9.0 out of 10]

Dredd is not for everyone. This isn’t going to win any awards or ever be accused of being ‘high cinema’ or some such but if you are into dark and hardcore action with a decent story and fun characters then you will be hard pressed to dislike this. It is similar enough to the Raid to be distracting in the beginning but once the action gets going you aren’t likely to care. Dredd does exactly what it is meant to and does it very well. It even manages to incorporate Dredd’s catchphrase ‘I am the law’ without sounding dumbass. Suck on that Stallone.