On Friday Sept. 21, Lionsgate released its newest action thriller movie “Dredd,” starring Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby and Lena Headey.

When I heard that a new Dredd film was coming out, I was excited until I saw the first trailer. The trailer made this film seem just like another action film with no life and mindless killing. Although it had a lot of killing, especially for those who love a good shot to the head; this film was so much fun to watch.

Director, Pete Travis, did one heck of a job taking this comic book and bringing it to life in a fantastic ride through the monstrosity that is Peachtree, the home of the film’s villain Ma-Ma, played by Headey. The visuals throughout the film were spectacular, especially the slow-motion drug scenes. They gave this world a very realistic feel while allowing the deaths of each person to be extremely realistic and gory.

With a very limited dialogue and not much of a story at all, the actors did a wonderful job entrancing you into this world of death and despair. Urban was rugged and had an attitude about him in the same sense that Bane had in the summer blockbuster Dark Knight Rises. Why? Because you never see his face.

Throughout the film, Dredd wears a helmet that covers his entire face except his mouth. This surprisingly works and gives Dredd an element of mystery. Thirlby was great in the film also and gave it heart by relieving some of the tension from this otherwise lifeless story.

If you’re a person who loves a good story with heart and a happy ending, this is not the film for you. The very limited dialogue does not give the actors the ability to make this movie into an Oscar winning film, but that is not what you can expect from a movie like this. This is a movie that you go to sit back and relax as the judges lay waste to an entire complex in a mosaic of blood and destruction. For me, that is enough to make this film worth the ticket price and enough to have a great time in the theater.

Based on being solely an action film, I would give “Dredd” three and one half stars out of five.