The new movie version of Judge Dredd, simply titled Dredd, hit theaters this weekend.
The reviews from the fan sites have been pretty positive, with the new model Dredd shaping up to be a hardcore version of the legendary comic. While I’m as sick and tired as anybody over reboot mania, Judge Dredd is one comics hero that’s been long overdue for a remake, and I’m glad he’s getting another shot.
Dredd is played by Karl Urban, who you probably know as Bones from the JJ Abrams Star Trek. Urban just spoke to the Huffington Post about playing Dredd, and as he told Mike Ryan, “I grew up reading Dredd,” and you get the impression the film may have some dark, cynical humor in it, a la RoboCop, which would be very cool if that is indeed the case.
The Post asked Urban about having to wear not only a helmet, but a scowl, for the whole movie, and he replied, “It was important to me that the character be identifiably Dredd…I was concerned that would be the only way to do it. And I just thought, Wow. What a wonderful opportunity with an extraordinary challenge.”
As far as the new Dredd being a “reclamation project,” a way to clean the slate after the disaster of the ’96 movie, Urban said, “I never really had that agenda or thought about it like that.” Rather, he loved the challenge of playing a character who has to show limited emotions on screen, and he was also very grateful for the opportunity to bring one of his favorite comics to life.
Likewise, Urban was asked about bringing his own interpretation to playing Bones in Star Trek. “It’s a slippery slope,” he said. “As a longtime fan of Star Trek, I would have felt short changed if I had gone into that cinema and not seen a character that was identifiably McCoy.”
At the same time, he emphasized you don’t want to be a caricature. “I also have to make the character my own. And it is, ultimately, my interpretation of what Bones is. But, having such huge admiration and respect for what he did before, it was important that the character be recognizably Bones.”
It’s good to see an up and coming star treat a comic film, as well as the Trek universe seriously. Here’s hoping the next Trek, which is titled Star Trek Into Darkness and hits theaters on May 17, 2012, will deliver big time for us fans.
