10 Reasons B-List Comics Make Better Adaptations Than The A-List
6. Extreme Comic Violence And Action: Dredd
"Ma-ma is not the law... I am the law."
Dredd is one of those films that the studios just will not invest in. Swimming against the current of the Stallone version's reputation and the '3D' slapped on the poster, the film gained a strong cult following who are currently lobbying for a sequel. If you're struggling to understand why then simply consider these four words; extreme, gratuitous, operatic violence.
2012's Dredd took a different approach, building on top of the stripped-down siege film The Raid as the Street Judge with a grudge assesses the rookie Anderson on her first day. Dredd walks his newbie into a tower block that turns into a giant concrete death trap with armed maniacs round every corner. Just another day at the office, if you've read the comics.
The 2000AD pedigree provides a solid premise for this ballet of bullets and, Judge Dredd being their standard bearer, the film plays out like a sympathetic monster movie. The excellent pulpy subject matter of futuristic drugs and the gritty portrayal of human misery really makes you earn the immense action and provides instant motivation. In this messed up decaying world, the existence of the merciless law machine Dredd scarily makes sense.
The pages of the comic are way ahead of any action movie and this film successfully begins the translation process, and there has been clear analysis of what is vital to Dredd and what is just window dressing. After a slight misfire in the 90s the cold, cold heart of the comics beat within Karl Urban's awesome adaptation.