Easily the hardest-edged comic book adaptation we’ve seen in a long, long time, this second attempt to bring Dredd to the big screen is a far more faithful beast than the oft-maligned 1995 movie. Right from the off, we’re dragged into the future world of Mega City One. It’s a horrible, dirty, sprawling rats’ nest of crime, full of endless concrete. It’s also overseen by a series of Judges, who act as judge, jury and executioner as they attempt to bring order to the city. If you’re looking for a definition of ‘unwinnable war’, what the Judges face in Mega-City One is a good place to start. The premise here is that Dredd has this single day to find out whether new rookie Anderson has got what it takes to be a judge. Unfortunately, it’s also the day they end up in a 200-story building under the rule of drug baron Ma-Ma. She’s peddling a narcotic by the name of Slo-Mo, and Dredd and Anderson soon find themselves imprisoned in the block, fighting to bring the criminals within it to justice.  It’s a simple setup, and quite a wise one. After all, this Dredd doesn’t have the budget of its contemporaries, and the money thus has to be spent very wisely. There’s some solid effects work to establish the perspective and tone of the city, but more interestingly, they filmmakers have spent the cash on details. Graphic displays, make-up, signs, little things in the background that give more realism and texture to a world than a computer graphic can generally give you. But it does commit to what it’s trying to do, and the world it’s trying to represent. Alex Garland’s sparse dialogue is harsh, and true to both Dredd and the original 2000AD strips. Furthermore, there’s no attempt whatsoever to soften the film. This is a brutal piece of work, and director Pete Travis doesn’t shy away from that at all. Blood splatters, people die in horrible circumstances, and the effects of Slo-Mo are ever present (although this does mean we get a few over-extended slow-motion scenes which outstay their welcomea little). Credit, too, to Lena Headey, who’s already shown that she can be a complicated antagonist in Game Of Thrones. There isn’t the same depth to her character in Dredd, but as Ma-Ma, she’s a convincing villain, and there’s little doubting her commitment to the role. You’re never in any doubt at all that her character is a nasty, ruthless individual, living in a nasty, ruthless world. Consider this: when Spider-Man 3 disappointed, Sony took the safe option with its following film of the webslinger, cutting all the edges off and making as conventional a movie as possible in The Amazing Spider-Man. The first Judge Dredd film, appreciating it was much further back, also disappointed, but the team behind Dredd have gone in the other direction. While others are looking to make comic book movies that appeal to the largest audience possible, those behind Dredd went right back to the darkness of the source material, and instead brought that to the screen. As a result, in the UK the film has an 18 certificate, and there’s no doubt whatsoever that it deserves it. Dredd might not always make for the most even and enjoyable of films (and its box office returns will inevitably be dwarfed by the Batmans and Spider-Mans of the world). Yet when it sparks into life, when you see just how much care and passion is behind it, and when it all hangs together, it becomes clear that it’s not just a film that deserves to be seen, it’s one that deserves to be supported and applauded, too. Dredd is the kind of comic-book movie that they weren’t supposed to be making anymore. Luckily for us, someone decided to ignore that. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.