“The sentence is death.” The first trailer for ‘Dredd’ has arrived and, for many, judgment has already been passed. The New Zealand Herald reported this morning on the sheer number of complaints coming in: it’s too generic, the music’s wrong, the plot’s too similar to another action film and, most criminally, Dredd’s helmet is too big. Oh, please! Let’s see what the final film is like first before we pass a sentence like that.

We all know trailers don’t always reflect the final product – just look at Prometheus. But yes, there are striking similarities in plot to The Raid (released earlier this year). But Dredd was shot before The Raid and given the latter’s overwhelming praise, and 10/10 ratings, is this a bad thing? Who wouldn’t want to see more kick-ass close-quarters action like that? But I digress.

As for the plot: Mega City One is overrun by criminals, chaos and cancer – a cancer in the form of a drug called Slo-Mo (which explains all the super slow-mo in the trailer). The leader of the gang peddling this muck is Madeline ‘Ma-Ma’ Madrigal (Game of Thrones’ Lena Heady). Ma-Ma’s holed up in a 200 storey slum-cum-fortress – a place where even Judges fear to tread. But one Judge, Dredd, is determined to clean up this town and take Ma-Ma down. But he’ll have to shoot his way up 200 floors to do it.

Kiwi Karl Urban looks great as Dredd and, despite arguments over the size of his helmet (ooh err), he looks like he’s gonna kick some serious ass and take a lot of names. Dredd feels like it’s going to be quite brutal (a good thing) but this is only a Green Band trailer, so they can’t exactly show the best bits.

There are a few hackneyed one-liners in there and the film does look a tad stylised, but let’s see more before forming a full opinion. If it sticks to being dark and brutal, with mad action, then it should be in a class above the generic nonsense we’ve seen in the past few years. Fingers crossed that’s the case.

What do you think? Should it get the death sentence at this early stage? Care to comment on the helmet?

The future America is an irradiated waste land. On its East Coast, running from Boston to Washington DC, lies Mega City One – a vast, violent metropolis where criminals rule the chaotic streets. The only force of order lies with the urban cops called “Judges” who possess the combined powers of judge, jury and instant executioner. Known and feared throughout the city, Dredd (Urban) is the ultimate Judge, challenged with ridding the city of its latest scourge – a dangerous drug epidemic that has users of “Slo-Mo” experiencing reality at a fraction of its normal speed.

During a routine day on the job, Dredd is assigned to train and evaluate Cassandra Anderson (Thirlby), a rookie with powerful psychic abilities thanks to a genetic mutation. A heinous crime calls them to a neighborhood where fellow Judges rarely dare to venture – a 200 story vertical slum controlled by prostitute-turned-drug lord Ma-Ma (Headey) and her ruthless clan. When they capture one of the clan’s inner circle, Ma-Ma overtakes the compound’s control center and wages a dirty, vicious war against the Judges that proves she will stop at nothing to protect her empire. With the body count climbing and no way out, Dredd and Anderson must confront the odds and engage in the relentless battle for their survival.

Pete Travis directs from a script by Alex Garland. Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Domhnall Gleeson, Santi Scinelli, Deobia Oparei, Langley Kirkwood, Rakie Ayola and Lena Headey star.

Dredd passes judgement on October 4, 2012.