Speaking to The L.A. Times’ Hero Complex blog, Judge Dredd creator John Wagner has given a provisional thumbs up to the new movie Dredd featuring Star Trek‘s Karl Urban as the lawgiver.

Describing the character at his creation as “a heartless hero for Thatcher’s heartless, new Britain”, Wagner explains that the new film works for him for three reasons: “The plot is about Dredd and his world. It’s impossible to cover every aspect of the character and his city – perhaps that was one of the failings of the first film; they tried to do too much and ended up with not a lot. Dredd homes in on the essential job of judging – instant justice in a violent future city. I like the actors, they’re well cast and they handled their parts well. Olivia Thirlby is perfect as Anderson, the young psi judge. She gives the character a touching vulnerability. Karl Urban will not remove his helmet and will not kiss his costar.”

The full interview, in which Wagner also discusses what went wrong with the Sylvester Stallone movie from 1995, can be read here.

Dredd is due to open on September 21.