Assault on Precinct 13 Review
by Ryan Ellis (flickershows AT hotmail DOT com)January 22nd, 2005
Assault On Precinct 13
reviewed by Ryan Ellis
January 20, 2005
My Tagline---A coalition of the willing
I kept thinking of last year's 'Dawn Of The Dead' remake during 'Assault On Precinct 13'. They're both solid (and very loud...and VERY bloody) remakes of '70s genre movies, similar in style and spirit. The George Romero and John Carpenter originals didn't waste much time explaining motivation. They get to the good stuff. Zombies and murderous street punks kill...just because. Remakes have an even worse track record than sequels when it comes to equalling the original. Director Jean-Francois Richet is no John Carpenter, but he's put together a balls-out siege flick that doesn't aim to be anything more than that.
Actually, the 2005 riff on 'Assault On Precinct 13' is a remake of a remake. Carpenter based his movie on 'Rio Bravo'---now there's a flick I need to watch again---although it's more reminiscent of 'Night Of The Living Dead'. The concept keeps going downhill. The copy is fading. If they work this one over again in 15 or 20 years, it's bound to really stink. As for this edition, it's JUST entertaining enough to earn a kudo or two. It has no delusions of grandeur. Let's not look too closely, though, because Richet's bloody house of cards might collapse under closer scrutiny.
Story---it's New Year's Eve and Marion Bishop, the Michael Jordan of the drug dealer/killer/badass ilk (played by Laurence Fishburne, cooling his way through the whole film), is dropped off with 3 other convicts at the nearly deserted 13th Precinct in Detroit. Only Ethan Hawke (Jake Roenick, the sarge in charge), Brian Dennehy (the old cop who's due for retirement), and a slutty secretary (Drea DeMatteo) are there to party the night away and tie up some loose ends before they all move to the new digs. With minimum security, no back-up, and a ferocious snowstorm raging, the cop shop is an easy target for vigilantes who want to make sure Fishburne doesn't make it to January 2nd. Truth is, everyone in the station will be dead if they don't work together because those are well-armed baddies out there and they won't leave behind any witnesses. Presto, the outnumbered cops and criminals unite to ward off the encroaching killers.
Maria Bello (as Hawke's obsessive-compulsive therapist), John Leguizamo (who probably overacts even when he's sleeping), and Gabriel Byrne (as a ruthless cop with secrets) play major roles in the stand-off. It's obvious that Byrne isn't only interested in that whole business about protecting and serving. But the wild card is Fishburne. Can he be trusted, especially when he's a cop killer holding a gigantic gun? He and Hawke come to an understanding and agree that their "shit is on pause" (unlike the other crooks, who would just as soon kill anyone wearing a badge), although they're not going out for drinks when it's all over...IF they make it out alive. Hawke, though, has a crisis of confidence because of an undercover operation gone dead while Fishburne is really just interested in saving his own neck.
This being a Hollywood production, something heroic and good has to happen before the audience members can put their coats back on. However, I was convinced that this flick had the courage of some of its convictions when one of the assaulted is executed at point blank range by one of the assaulters. It was horrific and a bit of a surprise, but a truthful turn in the story. Then again, the killers don't ALWAYS shoot first and sort everything else out later. When they have Hawke's clique dead to rights near the end of the movie, there's too much talk and not enough bang-bang. Don't these bad guys ever watch James Bond movies? Just shut up and kill.
Writer James DeMonaco (who also penned 'The Negotiator') and Richet (a French director I've never heard of before this) do a barely acceptable job of cutting the precinct off from the outside world. With cell phones and faxes and so much technology at hand, it's less believable in 2005 to isolate a building (even in a deserted area) while repeatedly shooting at it in downtown Detroit. The filmmakers also rely on a few too many double-crosses (the last of which I saw coming like train lights in the countryside) and a protracted climax outside the station. But in a nihilistic way, I was entertained. Maybe I'm not used to seeing so much graphic violence in modern action movies, even though it's fitting in this context. Most producers want a PG-13 rating. Not these ones.
'Assault On Precinct 13' is as violent as any film in recent years. It would be dishonest if rampant gunfire and other wartime tactics didn't result in copious bloodshed, but this one goes the extra mile for its R rating. Not only does one guy get an icicle in the eye (shades of 'Die Hard 2') and another gets a knife shoved up through his chin, the innocents keep getting shot right in the head. Of course, the main characters aren't gunned down as easily as their co-stars. When they get shot, it's only a flesh wound, something they can walk off. Thank God for Stormtrooper calibre accuracy.
Before we say goodbye, here's a logic quiz: If the villains were prepared to kill cops anyway, why not just get a few rocket launchers and blow up the bus (including the 2 guards inside) before it ever got to the 13th Precinct? And then once it became a siege, why not use 10 or 20 cannisters of tear gas and smoke them out? Also, why did one of the turncoats wait so long to turn his coat? And where did that forest that looks like a film set come from? Most of all, how can I hack on this movie so much and yet suggest you see it anyway? Now THAT'S a good question...
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