Karl Urban plays Judge Dredd in the latest 3D film rendition of the comic strip tale.
Dredd 3D, the newest adaptation of the Judge Dredd comic strips, had several objectives in its mission.
It needed to deliver an authentic Dredd and, in turn, redeem the failings of the 1995 Sylvester Stallone misfire.
In Dredd 3D - a gory, visually impressive action film, peppered with death and deadpan one-liners - they have achieved just that.
Its video-game feel, bleak futuristic setting and frequent, cold-blooded violence won't appeal to everyone, but this upfront action movie accomplishes exactly what it sets out to be.
New Zealander Karl Urban replaces Stallone as the legendary Judge Dredd.
He's like a judge, jury and executioner rolled into one, and an unempathetic dispenser of justice in a dystopian future.
With a growling, emotionless voice (reminiscent of Batman or Clint Eastwood) and constant frown, Urban captures the stoic Dredd well.
Aside from his robotic nature, his helmet covers most of his face, which makes it hard to empathise with him as a character, except through his relationship with rookie judge, Cassandra Anderson (Juno's Olivia Thirlby).
While the helmet takes some time for non-fans to adjust to, purists will be happy to know he never takes it off (a fact that caused ire in Stallone's version).
Instead, you get all the emotional attachment from Thirlby's Anderson, a powerful psychic who is placed under Dredd's charge for a day to see if she has what it takes.
Thirlby, who's not known for action roles, leaves an impression and she's the perfect counter to Urban's Dredd. They get a couple of good comedic moments, although they could have easily handled more.
Talented screenwriter Alex Garland (Never Let Me Go) keeps the story concentrated, instead of cramming in too much from all the Judge Dredd comics published since 1977.
Unlike other comic book heroes, Dredd isn't about to save the world - it's a smaller mission, with big consequences.
It has a very video-game feel, and violence level as well, with the movie's body count easily reaching into the hundreds.
Visually, there are impressive moments, especially from the point of view of characters taking a hit of the fictional drug slo-mo.
There's enough in Dredd 3D for hard-core fans to geek-out on, but it's also worth seeing for those who know what a FPS and TPS are, or who like a bit of violence. AAP