DREDD (Update)

• DREDD

Arriving in theaters later this year, Dredd will once againgbring to life the "Judge Dredd" comic from the pages of "2000A.D." with Karl Urban donning the iconic helmet, starring alongside OliviaThirlby as Judge Anderson.

The L.A. Times spoke with John Wagner who, in 1977, createdthe character alongside artist Carlos Ezquerra.

"'Dredd' homes in on the essential job ofjudging," says Wagner of the new film's plot. "Instant justice in aviolent future city... The plot is about Dredd and his world. It’s impossibleto cover every aspect of the character and his city. Perhaps that was one ofthe failings of the first film. They tried to do too much and ended up with nota lot."

Dredd was released theatrically back in 1995 and featuredSylvester Stallone in the lead. That version was neither a critical nor boxoffice success, but Wagner promises that the upcoming film won't make the samemistakes.

"My views haven’t changed," he explains,"though apart from my initial viewing I haven’t seen the film since itcame out. They told the wrong story. It didn’t have that much to do with Dreddthe character as we know him. I don’t think Stallone was a bad Dredd, though itwould have been better and lent him more cred if he hadn’t revealed his face.He was just Dredd in the wrong story. I envy their budget, though. Some of theCGI was very good, and the re-creations of the Angel Gang and the robot. Therobot actually came from a Pat Mills story and didn’t belong in Dredd, but itlooked good. If the plot had revolved around characters like them the filmwould have been more successful."

Optimistic about the cast of the new version, Wagner saysthat Dredd will stay true to his creation.

"I like the actors," he says. "They’re wellcast and they handled their parts well. Olivia Thirlby is perfect as Anderson,the young psi judge. She gives the character a touching vulnerability. KarlUrban will not remove his helmet and will not kiss his costar."

Dredd hits theaters in 2D and 3D later this year, inSeptemeber.