Judge Dredd is just having one of those days, wherein a routine triple-homicide turns into full-on death trap. Part of the elite team of badass lawmen patrolling the unending dystopia of Mega-City One, the perpetually masked and gravel-voiced Dredd (Karl Urban) is saddled with training a rookie psychic (Oliva Thirlby) when the two end up in the wrong apartment block. Trapped by the sadistic Mama (Lena Headley), Dredd and his protege must fight their way up past 200 floors of vicious gangs in a plot not altogether different from multiple video games. Director Alex Garland wisely plays up the violent pulp roots of his comic book hero, while adding in some killer sound design and fancy-pants slow-motion shots. It's all window dressing, though. Dredd's a fun time, sharply focused and hard-boiled, but there's nothing inside. This is hollow-point cinema.
