New DREDD Poster Looks The Business

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If there was any doubt as to the intent of the upcoming Judge Dredd film reboot, Dredd, to restore the character’s iconic power after his first, disastrous cinematic outing in 1995, this brand new one-sheet should lay it all to rest.

We’ve all known for ages that actor Karl Urban will not only be plonking on the future lawman’s bucket helmet, but that he also won’t be taking it off (in accordance with the canon of the classic comic), but one look at this latest poster and, honestly, that could be anybody in that outfit.

I, for one, say hurrah. I care not for the controversies over writer Alex Garland having more say in the editing room than director Pete Travis – all I care about is quality, no-nonsense Dredd and, call me crazy, but I’m pretty sure we’re going to get it.

Let’s compare the poster to the original from 1995:

Yeah. No actors names, no defining jawline, just the suit and a pretty eager fist wrapped around a Lawgiver gun.

If you’re not in the know, the film Dredd sees Judge Dredd and rookie partner Cassandra Anderson (a classic character from the comics played here by Olivia Thirlby [who doesn’t really look the part, but whatever]) having to enter a horrendous tenement building filled with criminal scum and a drug dealer called Ma-Ma (played by Lena Headey, who as you know if you’ve seen Game of Thrones, does sexy badness like nobody’s business). It sounds like Judge Dredd meets The Raid, which is a pretty cool concept in and of itself. A lower budget, darker film with minimal exterior shots required seems the perfect way to bring Dredd himself back to cinematic life – a no-nonsense, no-frills approach that, judging by the stills THR provides, looks to be a winner already.

Hey, if Batman can claw his way back to cinematic triumph after the crippling Schumacher years, anything is possible for a crimefighter…

Dredd is out September 21.