“Dredd,” the latest incarnation of the British comic strip, is a pretty straight forward piece of science fiction adventure – a blood soaked cocktail with a stylistic kicker. I found it to be a lot of fun.

Set in a futuristic city where the police have the authority to act as judge, jury, and executioner, Karl Urban plays the title character. His latest assignment is assessing the skills of a potential judge with psychic skills named Anderson (Olivia Thirlby).

They are sent to investigate three murders at a 200-story high rise ran by a ruthless drug lord named Ma-Ma (Lena Headey).

The investigation turns into a fight for survival when Ma-Ma locks Dredd and Anderson inside the high rise with the intent of having her henchmen kill the judges.

If this plot sounds like the spring release “The Raid: Redemption,” the two films do have a lot of similarities. But “Dredd” is able to make its own identity and not feel like a rehash thanks to some well crafted sequences from director Pete Travis.

The opening sequence alone, with Dredd chasing some heavies through the streets, is better than anything in the “Judge Dredd” film that starred Sylvester Stallone in the 90’s.

But once inside the high rise Travis really turns ip the visuals, especially in displaying the effects of the film’s fictional drug SLO-MO – a reality-altering drug that slows everything down to 1 percent. This leads to some pretty cool moments where bullets splatter through victims with gory precision – practically splattering onto the audience thanks to 3-D work.

The cast is also pretty good, with Urban seeming to have a lot of fun as the deadpanned and deadly Dredd. Thirlby is good in a role that is a little different from her previous work, while Headey proves to be a pretty sinister villain.

“Dredd” may be a little too violent for some tastes, but I didn’t mind. Hopefully this is the beginning of a fun franchise or at worst a film that could make a great companion to “The Raid: Redemption” for action fans looking for a home viewing double feature.

Grade: B