I guess I haven't read a Dredd story in 20 years or so. However, from what I remember the Stallone movie was much closer in tone than the new one.
I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that before. I'm not familiar with the comics myself, but from what I read, fans of the Dredd comics generally feel the 2012 movie was far more faithful, or at least far more respectful of the source. True, the Stallone movie had more humor, but not the same kind of satirical humor as the comics, or so I gather.
And certainly Karl Urban's performance is generally considered better/more authentic than Stallone's, and not just because he kept the helmet on.
The 2012 movie was very grimdark, wheras the comic was kind of... crazy? Like, everything was turned up to eleven, there were gangs of kids on space hoppers and block wars and muties and... like, it was a lot more sci-fi and wacky and hilarious- it actually wasn't that far off the universe portrayed in Transmetropolitan. So I do feel the Stallone film, while perhaps being a worse film that Dredd2012, was actually more faithful to the comics than the reboot.
As
JoeZhang said above, the comics have never been of a consistent tone. When taken as a whole, they're all over the place, but within the confines of a single story, it's usually pretty damn consistent. It should be noted however that even in the really out there wacky comedy stories, though his function within the narrative can vary, Dredd is always characterised the same. Regardless of whether he's up against drug dealing street gangs, serial killers, body-snatching hairpieces from outer space or a blatant Dr Who parody. He's always "Dredd."
Personally I thought the Stallone movie did quite well for about the first 15-20 minutes. And no, it's not just because he takes his helmet off after that point, that's just a symptom of a larger problem.
As I see it, the core problem is that the film-makers fundamentally misunderstood the two main characters from the comics. The first being of course Dredd himself. In the film, Stallone isn't playing Dredd, he's playing Stallone dressed up as Dredd. There's a lot more to old Joe than a stern grimace and shouting "I AM THE LAAAAUUWW!!!" at people.
Now the second main character---nope, not Rico. No, not Hurshey either. Fargo? No. Mean Macine? Uh...no! The second main character from the comics is Mega City One. Indeed in a lot of ways, the Meg and it's denizens are the real stars of the comics while Dredd is for the most part a lenses through which we observe them.
Now the Stallone film decided to tell a very Hollywood (yet oddly Shakespearian) origin story/heroes journey against the backdrop of a distopian sci-fi setting. Thus totally missing the point and approaching the whole thing backwards.
'Dredd (2012)' made neither of these mistakes. Urban put in as faithful a performance as anyone could ask for and the city and it's citizens were front and centre the whole time.
