Just over 15 years ago Sylvester Stallone gave us his adaptation of the British comic book Judge Dredd. Needless to say, it became one of the biggest flops of the decade and collected horrid reviews to go with it.
When DNA Films announced their plans for a remake in 2008, understandably, nobody had much faith that the newly titled Dredd would be anything but a rehashed cash grab. Well, as George Michael said, you gotta have faith.
Since its reveal at this year’s Comic-Con, those lucky enough to get a screening of Dredd have had extremely positive things to say about Pete Travis-directed and Alex Garland-penned actionier, with the consensus being that this attempt has a more carefully crafted character to go along with its slick pulpy action.
Check out what some reviewers over at Rotten Tomatoes have to say:
Variety:
“Grim, gritty and ultra-violent, Dredd reinstates the somber brutality missing from the U.K. comicbook icon’s previous screen outing.”
JoBlo:
“From the smart casting to the hypnotic score by Paul Leonard-Morgan, to the copious amounts of crushed heads, this is a superhero flick that has balls and then some.”
SFX:
“Clearly made with love by people who have read the comics and understand what makes Joe Dredd tick, it’s a focussed and thoroughly entertaining take on one of the most enduring characters in British comics.”
Crave Online:
“Dredd hits that perfect sweet spot of filmmakers isolating an audience and totally serving that audience. I hope sci-fi fans will appreciate this as a throwback, an homage or just damn awesome.”
CinemaBlend:
“Dredd holds its own with other grindhouse action thrillers: Short on story, but amped up with gore.”
The Playlist:
“By far the better of the two cinematic interpretations of this particular character, “Dredd” is a video game procedural tied to great visuals, but one without deeper substance to make its experience remotely meaningful.”
Hollywood.com:
“Dredd is a grimy, smoldering, relentless 90 minutes that manages to inject its in-your-face fight scenes with an unexpected bit of humanity.”
ScreenCrush:
“It makes ‘Dirty Harry’ look like ’12 Angry Men’.”
Though there are many more critics who still have to weigh in on Dredd, with a start at 100 percent on the review aggregator, its prospects are looking way up. Garland has already talked about the potential for a sequel and even a trilogy if enough cash rolls in, so clearly he has more things to say about the character and the universe.
For those who don’t know, Dredd tells the futuristic tale of a law enforcer (Karl Urban) who along with his trainee (Olivia Thirlby) must take down the drug kingpin (Lena Headley) behind a new mind-altering substance known as Slo-Mo, who has holed herself up in a goon-packed high rise.
Dredd will arrive in theaters September 21st, 2012. You can check back then for our review.