Overlooked Gem of the Week: 'Dredd' (2012)

The first Judge Dredd film came out in 1995. Rob Schneider was cast as the comic relief. An idea only fractionally worse than casting Stallone as Dredd. The film was so bad that almost 20 years later audiences instinctively steered clear of director Pete Travis's new take on the character.

If you grew up reading the original strip in 2000AD, you'll like the movie. If you like lean pacy action thrillers, you'll like the movie. If you enjoyed the strangely artful bloodletting in Takeshi Kitano's Zatoichi: You'll. Like. The. Movie. It's as bloody as you'd imagine; smarter than you'd expect; and, every so often, just when the violence edges towards a tad too much, its undercut with some very dark humour.

Besides the above, the reason Travis nails the film is because he gets the details right: Cape Town is a surprisingly good stand in for Megacity 1, Karl Urban as Dredd is note perfect (he growls his lines, always deadpan, as Clint Eastwood circa. 1985 - which is just as it should be), and Lena Headey as Ma-Ma plays like an unhinged Cersei Lannister. Which is fun. And that's the best way to describe the film as a whole: fun. It was never going to sweep the awards ceremonies, but it should have had more of an impact than just being a blip on the radar. 

Go enjoy the bloodletting.

Overall: 7/10