12 Greatest Ever Comic Book Movie Anti-Heroes

5. Judge Dredd

It might leave something of a bitter taste in your mouth to admit it, but Stallone's helmet-less Judge Dredd was far from the world ending catastrophe some fans have decried it as. The film was hokey and tedious, and it had WAY too much Rob Schneider (as every one of his films does), but Stallone's take on the lock-jawed law man was still beautifully compelling thanks to the source's inspiration.

The simple idea of an exaggerated law system that deals only in absolutes is a terrifyingly pertinent one, and the comic's commitment to hyper-violence and black humour meant that the grotesque, darkly charismatic lead was always going to rank high in the cool stakes. It helps that he lets his actions - usually bloody and rarely anything less than cartoonishly extreme - speak for him, or that when he does utter anything, it's usually the kind of thing that would sell thousands of t-shirts.

It's almost fitting that Dredd also doesn't fly with mainstream audiences with even the cherished remake with Karl Urban ran at a loss. You get the feeling that he'd actually get a perverse kick out of that sort of atypical model for success.