Karl Urban’s Underrated Dystopian Sci-Fi Hit Leaves Netflix in February

Summary:

• Dredd can rightfully be called one of the most criminally underrated movies of all time
• Despite being a great entry in the sci-fi action genre, it fell victim to unfortunate circumstances and was a box office flop
• The movie is currently available on Netflix, but will be removed from the service at the end of the month

Today, Karl Urban 's career is enjoying a new surge of popularity thanks to his brilliant portrayal of Billy Butcher in The Boys TV series, which is currently heading towards its fourth season.

However, the actor has given us many memorable performances over the years in all sorts of projects, from TV shows like Xena: Warrior Princess to huge cinematic masterpieces like The Lord of the Rings.

Unfortunately, not all of them have been successful, and one of the most regrettable and completely undeserved flops of the actor's career is undoubtedly 2012's sci-fi action film Dredd.

Dredd Was A Great Adaptation Of The Original Comics

Based on the 2000 AD comic books, the movie was set in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic future where humanity has been forced into overpopulated megacities, the last beacons of at least some civilization scattered across the wasteland.

However, with millions of inhabitants trying to make ends meet, a massive increase in violent crime has occurred, leading to the creation of Judges to enforce the law on the spot and not be afraid to execute criminals right away.

The story followed the titular Judge Dredd, portrayed by Urban, as he and his rookie sidekick Cassandra, played by Olivia Thirlby, embark on a mission to storm a mega-building completely controlled by the ruthless crime lord Ma-Ma, played by Lena Headey.

This leads to a non-stop feast of brutal and visually stunning action, spiced up with a clever use of slow motion, which even gets an in-universe explanation.

A simple but effective story combined with well-acted characters (with Urban doing a particularly remarkable job as, true to the source material, his face is never fully shown) make Dredd one of the best sci-fi action movies of the past decade.

The Movie Fell Victim To Its Lackluster Box Office

Sadly, as mentioned above, the movie flopped at the box office, failing to break even and grossing only $41.5 million against a budget of around $45 million.

This was largely due to an extremely weak advertising campaign, along with the fact that Dredd was in many ways ahead of its time, as the boom of R-rated movies would come a few years later, with projects like Deadpool and Logan making bank.

The movie is currently available to stream on Netflix, but it will be removed from the streaming service on February 29, 2024, so you might want to hurry up if you want to check it out.