Dredd Looks Awesome Judging From This Featurette!

The good folks at Lionsgate recently released a brief, super-slick featurette for the upcoming Dredd 3D, and we think it's safe to say that this flick has officially been raised from the ranks of "possibly looking kind of cool" to "Hey, this might be totally awesome!" Why don't we share the experience of watching it together!

This intro into the world of Dredd gives us even more of a taste of the film's stunning prop and set design (featuring the coolest motorcycle to hit the movies since Tron's light bikes) as well as star Karl Urban's take on the iconic Dredd character. The Lord of the Rings alumnus (who seems to be channeling more than a bit of Christian Bale's Batman here), speculates on the character's no nonsense demeanor and the comic's creator, John Wagner, weighs in as well.

The vision of the film is more apparent now, and it seems that what we have on our hands here is a space age Dirty Harry story that unfolds within in a short period of time with Dredd showing the ropes to the rookie cop Anderson (Olivia Thirlby), almost like a futuristic Training Day, but presumably without all its crooked cop overtones. More on the characters and plot is revealed within the accompanying synopsis as well, which explains Thrilby's Cassandra Anderson as a fledgling cop "with powerful psychic abilities, thanks to a genetic mutation."

A key element of the story seems to revolve around "Slo-Mo" a mind altering substance that shifts the users' perception of the world to a fraction of its normal speed. Often fictitious drugs can be laughable contrivances in the movies, but this one seems like it could offer some really cool action sequences, as the thought of a slow motion laser-gun fight from the point of view of a junkie whacked out on Slo-Mo sounds pretty freaking cool.

This could be one of the grittiest and most explosive rides of 2012. At the very least, it seems all but guaranteed that it will far outshine the character's embarrassing 1995 debut, which featured cod pieces galore, Blade Runner gone wrong set design, and Rob Schneider. Dredd hits theaters Friday September, 21. Look out, people, "Judgment is Coming."

Will you see Dredd?