Dredd is better than Judge Dredd, but what isn’t. I never read the comic strip so I have no idea how faithful the movie is to its origins. Dredd is closer in spirit to Robocop than the reboot of Robocop. Dredd has a solid dystopian story and great actors (Lena Headley), but I found a few things tiresome: the visual representation of Slo-Mo (beautiful and tedious), the uneven editing (sometimes things would be painfully spelled out–we get it, the criminal wants to rape one of the cops–and other times, it felt like we skipped something crucial to get to a plot point in the movie) and the helmets, which is faithful to the comic. I feel bad for actors like Karl Urban and Hugo Weaving. They finally get their moment in the spotlight, and no one knows it. If someone like John Carpenter directed Dredd, I think that it would have elevated the material from solid though predictable action to art. Dredd was missing a certain je ne sais quoi. Though I enjoyed the rookie’s character, I am a little tired that the sensitive though capable rookie is always a woman who stumbles, but doesn’t fall. I wouldn’t mind Dredd matched up with a female judge who is different, but just as insanely capable at all points. If you enjoy action, check out Dredd, but it won’t change your life.