'Judge Dredd' Creator John Wagner Discusses New Adaptation

We won't hold it against you if you're a fan of the original "Judge Dredd" movie, released all the way back in 1995. It's become kind of an unintentional camp classic over the years, with Sly Stallone's ruthless emoting and guttural "I AM THE LAW" barks, but it's also a solid sci-fi action movie, albeit one that deviates quite a bit from the famed comic books.

For "2000 A.D." loyalists, there's a new adaptation coming out this year, called simply "Dredd," that will see "Star Trek"'s Karl Urban as the titular Dredd and "The Wackness"'s Olivia Thirlby as Judge Anderson.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Dredd's creator John Wagner spoke about his high hopes for the film.

"I like the actors," he said. "They're well cast and they handled their parts well. Olivia Thirlby is perfect as Anderson, the young psi judge. She gives the character a touching vulnerability. Karl Urban will not remove his helmet and will not kiss his costar."

He didn't give away too many details about the plot, but there's a little bit there. "The plot is about Dredd and his world," he said. "It's impossible to cover every aspect of the character and his city—perhaps that was one of the failings of the first film; they tried to do too much and ended up with not a lot. 'Dredd' homes in on the essential job of judging—instant justice in a violent future city."

In case you're wondering, Wagner isn't a giant fan of the Stallone version. "My views haven't changed, though apart from my initial viewing I haven't seen the film since it came out," he said. "They told the wrong story. It didn't have that much to do with Dredd the character as we know him. I don't think Stallone was a bad Dredd, though it would have been better and lent him more cred if he hadn't revealed his face. He was just Dredd in the wrong story."

It's hard to disagree when he's being so reasonable, and indeed, the new movie seems like it should be more true to form. There isn't a trailer or a specific release date, but they should be coming soon enough. We'll judge for ourselves who does a better job of being the law.

Are you looking forward to "Dredd"? Let us know in the comments below and on Twitter!