Years before he madeThe Boys, Karl Urban starred in a different blood-soaked superhero adaptation — 2012’sDredd— and it’s an underrated gem that deserves to finally get a sequel. WhenThe Boyspremiered in 2019, Urban quickly became royalty within the comic book fandom for his delightfully foul-mouthed, devil-may-care portrayal ofsupe-slaying vigilante Billy Butcher. He’s also known for playing Éomer inThe Lord of the Ringstrilogy and Bones McCoy in theStar Trekreboot series, but Butcher has quickly become his most renowned role.
ButButcher wasn’t the first sociopathic, murderous comic book character that Urban played on-screen. In 2012, he inherited the role of Judge Dredd from Sylvester Stallone.Stallone’sJudge Dreddmoviewas panned for being a lighthearted buddy comedy with toothless PG-13 violence, which was completely unbefitting of the iconic2000 A.D.character.Dreddrestored the source material’s gratuitous gore and searing social commentary— and Urban’s stoic gruffness perfectly captured what this law-abiding antihero is supposed to represent.
Karl Urban’s Dredd Is Everything A Comic Book Movie Should Be
Dredd Is A Fun, Bloody Spectacle With A Point
Dredddoes everything a great comic book adaptation should: it’s a fun, bloody spectacle with a lot to say about the dangers of authoritarianism and a police state.Dreddis essentially a futuristic version ofThe Raid, in which Judge Dredd infiltrates a high-rise controlled by a ruthless drug lord. When the building is locked down and all the drug lord’s goons come after him, Dredd has to shoot his way out of there. The simplicity of its plot allowed screenwriter Alex Garland to focus on rounding out the character of Dredd himself and his complicated, sometimes contradictory ideology.
The simplicity of its plot allowed screenwriter Alex Garland to focus on rounding out the character of Dredd himself and his complicated, sometimes contradictory ideology.
Garland captures Dredd’s character through his relationship with Judge Anderson, a young rookie he’s mentoring on her training day, ina dynamic reminiscent of theDirty HarrymovieThe Enforcer. IfDreddhas one fault, it’s that it lacks the absurdist satire of the comics. But the case could be made that itsfaithful portrayal of Mega-City One as a sprawling dystopian metropolis governed by a gun-toting police force with absolute poweris inherently satirical in and of itself.
Why Dredd Never Got A Sequel (When Everybody Seems To Love It)
Dredd’s Underwhelming Marketing Campaign Led To Box Office Disappointment
Although it seems to be universally loved and it only just scratched the surface of Mega-City One,Dreddnever got a sequel. From Judge Anderson’s career to Dredd’s relationship with the Chief Judge, there are a lot of interesting threads from the first movie that could be picked up in a sequel. Unfortunately, after the studio mishandled the film’s marketing campaign,Dreddwas a box office bomb, so a sequel was never really viable.
