Dredd 2012

Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: This isn't a bad movie version of 'Judge Dredd,' but it's also too little too late. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: Every so often there's a suggestion that a police state may actually be a lousy idea, but this thought dies even faster than the disposable characters. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: What's exceptional is the orchestration of color, form, light and dark (lots of dark), 3-D technology and digital effects into a look that amounts to a vision. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: While not for the squeamish, Dredd 3D is an effectively gritty B movie accentuated by stylish visuals and irreverent humor. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: A wickedly dark comic streak breaks up the vivid violence and relentless bleakness of "Dredd 3D." Read more

James Rocchi, MSN Movies: Dredd 3D isn't revelatory, nor does it redefine any of the genres it splashes among as it goes its merry, bloody way, but as goofy-gory self-satire high-tech low-morality future-cop epics go, it's charmingly diabolical. Read more

Keith Phipps, AV Club: Mostly a bunch of flatly staged bits of action shot against anonymous backgrounds. Read more

Randy Cordova, Arizona Republic: With its dark characters and the grim setting, the film masterfully creates a compelling, nightmarish atmosphere. Read more

Tom Russo, Boston Globe: In a generic way, the environment works. But it drains the material of what should be most unique about it, and leaves Urban twisting despite a tightly coiled performance. Read more

Darren Franich, Entertainment Weekly: Urban manages to give a credibly wry performance using little more than his gravelly, imitation-Eastwood voice - and his chin. Read more

Laremy Legel, Film.com: Sit back and enjoy, the movie earns every morsel of entertainment goodness. Read more

Stephen Dalton, Hollywood Reporter: Dredd 3D constantly impresses on a visual level, with a gritty style more akin to cult hits like District 9 or 28 Days Later than to standard Hollywood comic-book blockbusters. Read more

Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times: Smartly cast and with a sharp team behind the scenes, there is no good reason why "Dredd 3D" is such a clunk-headed action picture. Read more

Frank Lovece, Newsday: Proves a surprisingly unimaginative cops vs. drug lord story, complete with the weathered veteran forced to take a rookie under his wing. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: We have seen this future. And not only does it not work - it no longer even surprises. Read more

Joel Arnold, NPR: It's savage, beautiful and loads of fun. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: "Dredd" is a lot of murk and grunt with no inner engine. And the unnecessary 3-D only makes it look muddier. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: My notes are as follows: "Shoot bad guy." "Shoot bad guy." "Shoot bad guy." Read more

David Hiltbrand, Philadelphia Inquirer: For sci-fi action fans, it's an instant classic. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Not much of what Dredd has to offer is new or groundbreaking, but the fusion of familiar elements generates a smartly-paced, suspenseful 90 minutes that's a vast improvement over the 1995 film ... Read more

Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle: A fine piece of cheap entertainment. Read more

Raju Mudhar, Toronto Star: Essentially a futuristic take on Die Hard or The Raid: Redemption, this is a violent, gory and faithful execution of the character that fans should rejoice at. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: Even if the similarity to The Raid: Redemption is pure coincidence, Dredd 3D suffers greatly by comparison, as it fails to muster even half of the thrills of its predecessor. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: Travis makes the most of limited resources: the industrial backdrops are stunning, the action scenes sizzle and the eye-of-the-addict Slo-Mo sequences are sickeningly beautiful. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: Urban gives the best "all mouth" performance since the Rocky Horror lips, sneering with seen-it-all gruffness and intoning Dredd's trademark catchphrase-"I am the law"-with the kind of B-movie-inflected soulfulness that feels damn-near profound. Read more

Geoff Berkshire, Variety: Grim, gritty and ultra-violent, Dredd reinstates the somber brutality missing from the U.K. comicbook icon's previous screen outing. Read more

Simon Abrams, Village Voice: Dredd is proudly degenerate-and it never feels compelled to slow down and explain itself. Read more

Sean O'Connell, Washington Post: This, finally, is the Dredd movie comic book readers have been anticipating. Read more