Fans of Judge Dredd can let out a long-awaited sigh of relief, "Dredd" delivers a fast-paced, gritty, darkly humorous and unflinchingly brutal portrayal of the classic British anti-hero that far surpasses 1995's universally-panned "Judge Dredd" starring Sylvester Stallone.
Director Pete Travis and screenwriter Alex Garland have managed to mix a grindhouse movie, high concept sci-fi and character study into one film. Usually, that results in an incoherent mess, but they've instead crafted an ultra-violent thrill-ride of a film. This is helped in no small part by Karl Urban's spectacular performance as Judge Dredd -- and, yes, he keeps his helmet on the whole time.
"Dredd" stars Karl Urban as Judge Dredd, the most grizzled and world-weary member of the Judges, a group of future cops who have the authority to sentence and execute criminals on sight. Dredd's beat is Mega-City One, a sprawling, cancerous metropolis that stretches from Boston to Washington D.C. with a population of 800 million. Robotics have rendered nearly all human jobs obsolete, resulting in near-universal unemployment and record levels of violence. This is all quickly established in the first few minutes of the film through a voice-over by Urban.
At its heart, "Dredd" is a classic cop-out-of-water film like "Die Hard." It follows Judge Dredd as he unexpectedly discovers a drug ring operating out of a 200-story crime-ridden residential tower named Peach Trees on a "routine" triple homicide call. After Peach Trees goes into lockdown, Dredd loses all communication with the outside world and has to climb through 200 floors of bloodthirsty scumbags to confront their leader, Mama, played by Lena Headey. Accompanying him on this odyssey is Judge Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) who possesses the psychic ability to read minds. "Dredd" opens on Anderson's first day and it's Dredd's job to assess whether she has what it takes to be a judge. This fledgling mentor/mentee relationship provides the backbone of the film, as Dredd struggles to even out his paternal instincts with his hard-nosed, no-nonsense attitude and Anderson eventually comes to develop her own powers and morality with Dredd's guidance.
....ive heard good things about the possession...havent seen it yet though
at not even considering Dredd. Whole movie was 
