Judge Dredd will soon be rolling his street justice back onto the big screen. 2000AD has confirmed that the movie is getting another shot and will start production next year.
Judge Dredd began life in the second issue of the magazine anthology 2000 AD. In a time when Judges are running a huge megapolis, Judge Dredd was empowered to enforce the law, sentence offenders, and carry out the punishment. The premise sounded ideal for adaptation, but the 1995 movie version, directed by Danny Cannon, was tired and generic; Schneider was especially annoying. It lacked any zip or zest; fans noted that Dredd never removed his helmet in the strip and, more importantly, complained that the dry humor was missing and the mythology was left out. Stallone himself feels that the film was “a real missed opportunity,” and told Uncut magazine that “great potential” was wasted. “We shouldn’t have tried to make it Hamlet; it’s more Hamlet and Eggs.”
Oh that Stallone has some sharp wit (don’t believe me? Rent Oscar)
I for one would be all for a remake of Judge Dredd. With all the treatments of intentional comic book adaptations lately, I think we are well due for some of the hidden gems of the comic book world to come forth and redeem themselves. I really thought Judge Dredd had the potential to rock some stylized action back in 95 like Demolition Man and still come out as a great adaptation of the comic strip, but there was little to nothing about it that I could find enjoyable.
Judge Dredd was a great concept that might need some tweaking before hitting the screen (the costumes obviously were painful eyesores and didn’t take well to real people) but the idea of a Policing force that would meet out justice on the spot addresses the growing concern that Justice as we know it fails. Criminals seem to have more rights than law abiding citizens these days and a portrayal of how flawed a society of a policing force that would catch, judge and pass sentence on a criminal on the spot just shows you how the pendulum can swing the other way.
I say let Stallone have at it. Restore some of the dry wit, and shoot Rob Schneider. No, he doesn’t have to be in the movie. Just shoot him on principal.
