DREDD
Theatrical

Once upon a time -1977 to be exact – there was a weekly comic book launch in Britain that, from the second issue onwards, featured the adventures of a futuristic, fairly fascistic cop in a post-apocalypse America. At the time, no one really expected much of either the comic or the character, other than a brief run before being absorbed into a more popular British weekly war comic like Battle. But 2000AD would become Britain’s most iconic and long-lived non-humour comic book, and Judge Dredd would become the nation’s best loved comic book character, much to the confusion of critics and publishers alike, both of whom thought that Dan Dare would remain Britain’s sci-fi comic hero.

Dredd became so iconic and internationally popular that he made the step to the big screen in 1995, in a film starring Sylvester Stallone that has become a byword in disastrous comic-to-film adaptations, missing every element that made the stories so successful and seemingly damning Dredd to movie oblivion. But this is a character too great to ignore –unyielding, fascistic judge, jury and executioner in a crime-ridden mega city of the future. And so we come to Dredd – made to rehabilitate the character for movie audiences. It’s an impressive goal to aim for – and the fact that the film succeeds in its aims so successfully is both satisfying and relieving for fans.

The new Dredd – the ‘Judge’ dropped presumably to distance it from the earlier debacle – offers up an authentic interpretation of the original stories, while developing a world of its own. Here, the Mega City One that Dredd patrols is not the futuristic landscape of the comic books, but rather a post-apocalypse world where a world we can all relate to has begun to develop into a future of huge city blocks where hundreds of thousands will reside – a world with recognisable cars, clothes and characters clash with the Halls of Justice and the Judges who dispense automatic justice to wrong doers. Chief among them is Dredd (Karl Urban), who is called out on a seemingly routine mission with rookie psychic judge Anderson (Olivia Thirlby), only to find himself trapped in a black shut down by psychotic drug lord MaMa (Lena Headey). Dredd and Anderson have to fight their way through the block to defeat the ruthless drug queen, who has an army of henchmen and block resident criminals ready to try to kill the two judges.

Much has been made of the coincidental similarities between Dredd and The Raid – something not helped by the Dredd trailer that bafflingly emphasises the similarities. In fact, beyond the wider construct, there is little connection between the two films. Dredd is – ironically given that the title character is covered by a helmet throughout – much more character driven and story based, with a less non-stop but more nuanced story.. This isn’t to say one film is superior to the other – they are simply very different beasts.

Dredd is as far removed from the awful Stallone film as you could hope for. Urban remains helmeted throughout, as Dredd should, the story studiously avoids comic characters and MaMa, while not based on any iconic Dredd character, is closer to the feel of the classic Dredd villain than any of the ones crow barred clumsily into the Stallone film. The film also, commendably, doesn’t show any restraint – in an ear of PG-13 action films, it’s good to see a movie – especially a comic book movie – that is awash with brutal violence and gore, bad language and decidedly adult themes. Dredd may have been a character in a comic book aimed at kids, but his stories where awash with violence and brutality, and this film accurately reflects them.

Perfectly cast – Urban channelling the Clint Eastwood that was always everyone’s first choice as Dredd in the 1970s, Thirlby perfect as the psi-judge rookie, Headey remarkably multi-faceted as the villain – and slickly made by people who understand exactly what made Judge Dredd work in the first place, this is the film we wanted back in 1995. Hopefully, it will be the hit it deserves to be, and we will see more big screen Dredd adventures (because there are plenty of stories worth telling) to come.

DAVID FLINT