15 Most Overrated Movies Of The Decade (So Far)

13. Dredd

It's hard not to want to like Dredd. The 2000 AD character had been butchered on screen in the Sly Stallone fronted Judge Dredd, so Pete Travis' reboot, which put the fan-friendly Karl Urban in the never-removed helmet and promised to go back to the character's satirical print heart, was a delightful prospect. In a world where comic book adaptations either come from the big hitters of Marvel or DC, or are utterly butchered in the medium transition, this was something really special.

The thing is, it's not really that good. Urban is probably the best screen Dredd there's ever going to be and (when it's seen) the dirt of crime-ridden Mega-City One is palpable, but the film just doesn't work as, well, a film. The plot is thinner than the comic's pages (let's ignore those coincidental parallels to The Raid), especially bizarre given the Judge's rich narrative history and, Dredd aside, each character feels like they're just the embodiment of the casting sheet.

This is a film heavy on gimmicks. The drug that drives the plot causes time to slow down, an unimaginative attempt to justify the numerous slow-mo sequences, made all the more cynical as it is actually called Slo-Mo. It looks kinda cool, but doesn't really add anything, especially when the frame adjusts in these sequences to force a faux-3D effect (even in 2D prints), something that looks petty outside of the post-Avatar bubble.

Almost three years on and people just won't stop asking where the sequel is. As a recent video by the producer pointed out, it's all money based - the film didn't make back its budget and thus getting a financier is a tall order - although could there be a general quality issue too?