Dredd 3D

These days, the typical Hollywood action movie is a bloodless PG-13 affair featuring a protagonist on a journey of self-discovery. Then there’s Dredd 3D, a darkly funny blood-soaked romp about a guy in a helmet who kills a lot of people. Karl Urban stars as a supercop locked in a skyscraper filled with criminals who want him dead. Adapted from the same British comic as Stallone’s forgettable Judge Dredd, this one makes the most of a familiar Die Hard-ish premise. Director of photography Anthony Dod Mantle creates an evocative dirty-neon future world. Paul Leonard-Morgan’s thumping techno soundtrack is thrilling. And Urban manages to give a credibly wry performance using little more than his gravelly, imitation-Eastwood voice — and his chin. B+

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  By Darren Franich