Sean Penn is a sniper working for a mercenary group in Africa. He assassinates a government official and must go into hiding, leaving behind his girlfriend (Jasmine Trinca) to be scooped up by fellow merc Javier Bardem. Years later, he’s back in Africa under a different name working for a humanitarian organization when a handful of assassins try to take him down. He investigates the source, meets up with the shady fellows from his past, and tries to reconnect with his former love.

This isn’t anything new – it’s okay action, your standard plot, lots of buffed-up Sean Penn showing he’s a killer who cares, and exotic locations. There’s little humor, not much suspense, a non-sequitur role for Bardem, but there’s also not much of a ham-fisted political message either. Nor is it on the level of director Pierre Morel’s earlier film Taken; it’s a hardy helping of American-cheese slices on semi-stale crackers – not an extravagant hors d’oeuvres, the cheese could be better, even generic sharp cheddar, and the crackers aren’t buttered, but it’s not spray cheese and wafers either. As a light snack before the real action movies arrive in a few months, it’s palatable.

Judge Dredd was a science fiction movie that was released in 1995 about a judge (played by Sylvester Stallone) who is wrongly accused of murder in a dystopian future. The film grossed just shy of $35M at the domestic box office, but it has been set for a reboot in 2012.

The reboot will be simply entitled DREDD, according to recent reports.  The character Judge Dredd is one of the most famous UK comic characters, and was ranked 7th greatest comic character by popular British film magazine Empire.

British film company DNA films will be working with Rebellion Developments and IM Global to bring the movie to fruition after almost two years.  An official synopsis has been released.

“DREDD takes us to the wild streets of Mega City One, the lone oasis of quasi-civilization on Cursed Earth. Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) is the most feared of elite Street Judges, with the power to enforce the law, sentence offenders and execute them on the spot – if necessary.”

The film will star Karl Urban (Star Trek) as Dredd,  and Olivia Thirlby (Juno) as Cassandra Anderson.  Pete Travis (Vantage Point) will direct, and Alex Garland (28 Days Later, Sunshine) will deliver the screenplay. It is interesting to note that Garland will also be writing the screenplay for the upcoming  Halo, a sure sign of confidence in his writing.

The 1995 Judge Dredd was criticized for not honoring its comic book roots.  DREDD sounds like it will be a little closer to the comic book vision. It is slated for a 2012 release.