It's no secret that I consider myself to be a big fan of Judge Dredd. Specifically, the comic, not the Stallone film of the same name, which really has to be up there as one of the worst comic book films ever made. So when I heard a couple of years ago that DNA Films were making a new film, I was initially excited. But since then, a number of reports has made my anticipation for a decent Dredd film go up and down. A recent report that a showing of the film at Cannes went rather well could've been exciting if it weren't for the fact that it was by one of the film's major financial backers. With no trailer and no real reports from anyone not deeply involved in the film that it'll be any good, I was prepared to ignore it.
And then I read this:
John fucking Wagner has said that this film is gonna be good. For anyone who doesn't know, Wagner isn't just the co-creator of Dredd: for 35 years, he has remained as the writer for Dredd's world. He's written so many definitive classics of the strip - The Apocalypse War, Necropolis, and of course, America - that he's closer to Dredd and his world more than anyone. When the last film was made, Wagner wasn't half as positive about it. This quote has officially pushed me from being cautiously optimistic of Dredd to being hugely excited about it! Now I just wish the bastards would release a fucking trailer already!John Wagner, the man co-created Judge Dredd, has given the new Dredd movie a thumbs up on his Facebook page:
“I went up to London yesterday to see the completed Dredd film. I’ve had reservations about certain aspects of it, and made them plain to the team at DNA. All but one of them – a little quibble at the beginning – have been addressed. And what a lot they’ve added. Music is on the button. SFX are excellent. Filming is impressive. I’ve not seen a modern 3-D movie before but I like it. I found myself reaching out trying to touch things that were dancing before my eyes. Karl is a great Dredd and Olivia gets Anderson completely. This is Dredd as it should be done – true to character, visceral, unrelentingly violent (but not off-puttingly so). It will open, I believe, sometime in September. No doubt you’ll let me know what you think when you’ve seen it, but this has my recommendation.”
Link to article here.