There is much to be applauded in this second attempt at adapting the 2000 AD comic character to the big screen that one almost wants to overlook the film's flaws, which, by and large, seem more a product of coincidence and budgetary constraints than poor decision making.

Firstly, it is nice to have a film that doesn't feel it needs to go into origins or back-story whatsoever.  Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) just exists, he introduces us - in a brief and slightly ham fisted voiceover - to the run down America of the future, where millions of people are compacted into the concrete expanse of Mega City 1.  More than that, thousands are contained in Mega Blocks such as Peach Trees where almost the entire film takes place.

Comparisons have been drawn between this film and recent Indonesian action-flick The Raid, and there are undoubtedly similarities to the plot and certain incidents along the way, but they are fundamentally very different animals.  The Raid was fast and frenetic, Dredd is steady and heavy-hitting.

The second major plus for this film is that it is, quite viscerally, unashamedly an 18 certificate.  It is oddly refreshing to have a film, undoubtedly with an eye on some degree of monetary success, be quite so uncompromising and confrontational with its depiction of violence.  There's definitely an air of Paul Verhoven's blood lust to the movie, recalling Total Recall in the production design down in the lobby of Peach Trees block, and Robocop in the gloopy, crunching, explosive bursts of dismemberment, immolation and splatter.

Additionally the creation of a drug called SLO-MO allows cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle to display some absolutely stunning photography, wherein our view switches to that of those on the drug that causes time to crawl to 1% its usual rate.  Water droplets hang magically in mid air, skin ripples with a sudden explosion of air and, well, bullets definitely make an impact.

But the film doesn't use its violence in an entirely exploitational fashion, it reinforces the threat that Dredd and his rookie partner Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) are up against.  Once the big bad Ma-Ma (Lena Headey) traps the Judges inside her block the odds do seem stacked incredibly against them, and director Pete Travis does a great job of putting you in this claustrophobic space where you'd probably crawl into a corner and cower.

Ultimately though a film called Dredd needs to tick one box, and Karl Urban does a commendable job with an extremely difficult character.  Never, thankfully, removing his helmet, he has only his chin on display and an Eastwood-like growl that hardly switches gear from gravelly monotone, yet we get an incredible sense of his dedication to upholding the law that doesn't necessarily seem unblinkingly cruel, but, oddly justified.

Screenwriter Alex Garland is smart in his choice of pairing Dredd with Anderson, who turns out to be a psychic mutant, and uses her journey to ask some serious questions about justice and punishment, with a number of surprising little twists along the way.

Unfortunately though the film lacks a little energy, its narrative has a slightly stop/start quality and doesn't really have much of a finale to speak of.  In a way this is perhaps a side effect of the admirable concept of this being 'just a day at the office' for Judge Dredd, and it would be an absolute crime if Dredd learned any lessons, grew as a person or discovered his soft and fluffy centre.  But, unlike, say, Die Hard, we don't get a satisfying pay off to the journey which sends the film out on a bit of a whimper rather than a bang.

However, overall the film is a solid romp and a fantastic primer for, hopefully, future Dredd movies.