Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)

Truly Dreadful Film

To me, this movie is perfection.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

An isolated police precinct on the last night before it closes with a skeleton crew finds itself under siege and Ethan Hawke must lead his small group of a grizzled aging police officer Brian Dennehy, secretaries Drea de Matteo and Maria Bello, and some assorted criminals in lock-up, the main one being master criminal Laurence Fishburne, who's prison transport bus had to make an unexpected pitstop. It's a great set up and John Carpenter's original film is a true classic. Carpenter's film is a perfectly executed "siege film." That original film is worthy of a remake and I do commend sequels that dare to stray from their source material, but this one strayed too far. It has the same set up, but the precinct comes under siege from form commandos and not faceless gang members, and goes even further astray when the plot drifts into double crosses and political conspiracies. The film's worst offense is that this remake forgot to be a siege film, which is what made the original so good. It seems like the characters are constantly leaving the building and the film even ends far far away the titular precinct. Despite the film's faults, Fishburne is great, as always, and Hawke is good in the lead (he actually makes a pretty good action here). I also love anything with Maria Bello. The action is decent and the film is slickly made, even if it didn't have the claustrophobic suspense that it should have.

Take the bare bones of John Carpenter's gritty, efficient, low-budget '76 thriller Assault on Precinct 13, tweak the narrative a tad (Precinct 13 is now in snowy Detroit instead of sunny L.A.), make the protagonists less likable, turn the antagonists from menacing street gang members into highly trained policemen (an idea that throws up many illogicalities), and add a star cast who have all done much better, and what you have is an assault on the senses that features so many dumb plot turns and such terrible dialogue that it borders on farce.Ethan Hawke is horribly mis-cast as tough undercover cop Sgt. Jake Roenick, one of a group of people who find themselves under siege in the condemned titular precinct on New Year's Eve during a heavy snowstorm. As bad guy Capt. Marcus Duvall (Gabriel Byrne) and his team of corrupt cops try to gain entry in order to kill gangster Marion Bishop (Laurence Fishburne) and any witnesses, Roenick is forced to enlist the help of several prisoners to defend the building. Cue lots of shooting, with the bad guys unable to complete their mission even though they have high-tech night vision goggles, laser-sighted machine guns, grenades and a helicopter, while those trapped inside must rely on a couple of handguns, a baseball bat and an old tommy gun from the evidence room. Yes, it's as bad as it sounds.3.5/10, rounded down to 3 for Ja Rule as criminal Smiley, who irritatingly refers to himself the third person throughout.

I've not seen the original film - yet - so I've nothing to compare this remake to, but if the original is as enjoyable as this then I'll be looking forward to seeing what all the fuss is about. I know remakes can get battered by a lot of people true to the original films, but instead of complaining about them, I like to have an open mind, and it's only after watching them I'll comment.Not all remakes/reboots are bad.Anyway, this version of Assault on Precinct 13 is a very decent action/thriller that's (mostly) well scripted, well filmed, and very well acted. I say "mostly" with regard to the well scripted comment because there were a couple of moments where the dialogue was a bit cheesy. Thankfully it was only mild cheese instead of full blown blue stilton. Then again, I guess you can't have an action film without at least some cheese. Other than that, however, the film is written well enough with a nice wee twist at the end.One thing that can sometimes be ignored in a lot of action films is the cinematography but with this film I enjoyed some of the outdoor scenes with the way the makers set the tone & atmosphere using the weather. It's not a huge thing and it is subtle but for me it was a nice touch.The main cast all give solid performances, from John Leguizamo's portrayal as Beck, a somewhat amusing (yet slightly annoying at the same time) small-time crook, to Laurence Fishburne's role of Marion Bishop, a more calculating & menacing mob boss.For me, the only unrealistic element of the film was the amount of police that ended up being involved. I mean the initial group led by Gabriel Byrne is understandable given the circumstances, but in the end it just went a bit over-the-top. But, this IS an action film and not a documentary, so, again, unrealistic moments are to be expected and it's not as if it ruins the experience.As long as you're not naive to expect something fantastic, then you should find this film enjoyable enough.

This remake Assault on precinct 13 serves as a good action movie. I have not really seen the original one, but when I watched this out it surely made me feel that I got my money's worth, as I was looking for a movie with Thrill and Action. Ethan Hawke playing a good cop does justice to the movie and Laurance Fishburne with great acting skills playing a mobster with a serious look on his face tells you that he means business! This film is Bloody And Ballsy!It's set on the New Year's Eve and it takes loads of blood, bodies and action till the movie ends until sunrise! So watch it for yourself I'm sure the action lovers will have a fairly good time.