Judge Dredd (2015) - Not as bad as people would have you imagine

I have no idea about the comic book 2015's 'Judge Dredd' was based on, so I can't say how well it compares to the source material, however, all I know is that it was met with quite a degree of disdain at the time of its release.  From what I gathered it was largely down to the fact that the titular character never takes his mask off, whereas Sylvester Stallone (who plays the man in question) spends the majority of the film running around without any form of facial covering (or Judge armour!).  However, if you can get past that (and I assume most of us non die-hard cinema-goers can) then you'll at least find a competent little action/sci-fi film here somewhere.

In the near future overpopulation has forced the majority of human life to be based around various giant 'Megacities' while the vast surrounding area is all desert.  To maintain law, 'Judges' are allowed to be judge, jury and - if necessary - executioner.  And, the most famous of all these 'Judges' is - you guessed it - Judge Dredd.

No sooner are we introduced to him, does he end up getting framed for a crime he didn't commit and forced to go on the run.  This is therefore the part where Stallone ditches all recognisable Judge Dredd garments in favour of a simple vest and tight trousers.  I suppose it would be like the level of criticism leveled at 'Iron Man 3' when you barely see the character in his most famous outfit throughout the whole film.  Anyway, Dredd has to do the usual things a character in his position has to, i.e. escape, unravel the conspiracy, prove his innocence and get the bad guy.

Yeah, it's all kind of run-of-the-mill, but it's definitely not as bad as many made out it to be.  The sets are great and it's nice to see practical effects instead of today's computer-generated versions of giant futuristic cities.  A few of the visual effects do look a little dated now, especially the blue-screens behind the characters during chase scenes, but it was 1995.

Stallone does as good as he does in most action films.  Unfortunately, he's just Stallone rather than the character fans came to see.  Therefore, this is probably more one for his audience than those of the comic book character.  There's a minor love interest and the bad guy (plus his female helper).  None of those really stand out, but there's a giant evil robot who's cool without having half the lines the human actors get.  Then you have Rob Schneider - an actor known for his low brow comedy films.  Here, he's the 'comic relief' and his 'comedy' kind of wears off quicker than the film-makers probably would have liked.  I'm surprised he's not mentioned more when it comes to film's 'most annoying characters ever,' as - in my opinion - he's well up there with Jar Jar Binks.

Anyway, if you like sci-fi, action, Stallone or films with practical effects you should get something out of this.  However, if you're a fan of the 'Judge Dredd' comic book, it looks like you're best off waiting a couple of decades until Karl Urban dons the outfit.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that