When I heard they were making a new Dredd film, my heart was filled with trepidation... after all, the previous attempt in 1995 was an utter disaster. An example of how not to make a movie from a comic book character. Completely miscast, and with a total lack of understanding about the character of Dredd himself.

So I was very, very happy when I saw this a couple of years ago... Karl Urban is the perfect choice for the role of Dredd and he plays this gruff, unsmiling and unbending man to perfection... and importantly, the character NEVER removes his helmet during the film. Urban manages to convey everything through the angle/tilt of his head and the expression of his mouth... without cracking a smile in any way... Exactly as Dredd would.

The supporting cast is fairly good too, Lena Headey is great as the nasty MaMa as is Olivia Thirlby as the psychic rookie Judge Anderson.

What lets the film down is the fact it's a low budget movie, and this shows in a lot of the visual effects and the use of vehicles. The Lawmaster bikes looked a little silly and some of the exterior landscape views across the city looked sparse. It also shows in the quality of some of the cast I felt.

The writing overall was good, well suited to the characters for the most part.

I for one am hoping they greenlight a sequel, one with a budget more suited to this kind of movie... This one is really good and the negatives I mentioned don't really detract from the overall enjoyment of the film. It's certainly one that I come back to and watch again when the mood strikes... But imagine how great it could have been if they could have enhanced those visuals and got a few extra actors in to raise the overall quality of the performances.

But whatever the outcome... if there's a sequel there is but one certainty. Urban IS Dredd and there is no other actor more suited to the role.

So after the durge that the 95 Stallone Dredd I was sickened... after this one I was ecstatic... and I know that for a fact because last night I watched both of them back to back.

9/10