Film Review Fridays--Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)

photo courtesy of hollywoodjesus.com

Assault on Precinct 13, directed by Jean-Francois Richet, was a pretty fast-paced, gritty film. After doing some digging, I found out that this film was a remake of the 1976 version, which was directed by John Carpenter (The Fog, The Thing, and Christine); I haven’t had a chance to watch the older version yet.

In the opening scene we are introduced to Sergeant Jake Roenick (Ethan Hawke), in an undercover drug sting. Portraying a coked out dealer who’s ranting and raving about whatever comes to his mind, Sgt. Roenick’s sting goes horribly wrong, getting his partners killed.

Fast-forward eight months, it’s New Year’s Eve and Sgt. Roenick is now a desk cop, struggling with guilt and the deaths of his partners. He’s in charge of the last shift of cops manning the soon-to-be shutdown Detroit Police Precinct 13. Amid the cumbersome snowstorm, the crew had high hopes of bringing in the New Year with a happy uneventful night, including dancing and boozing, but little did they know their fun would be interrupted by a rerouted prisoner transport; they were headed to a high-security prison, but the storm was too much. The four prisoners who are to be housed at Precinct 13 are Marion Bishop (Laurence Fishburne), a vicious crime lord, who is wanted by “bad guys,” Beck (John Leguizamo), a full-fledge junkie, Smiley (Ja Rule), a street hustler, and Anna, a gang member. Irked by the distraction and the influx of prisoners, Sgt. Roenick allows the prisoners to be housed there until morning; the crew soon returns to celebrating until two-masked gunman break in and kill the prison guards from the bus. Bringing everything to a halt, this incident alerts the crew of cops and prisoners that more danger is ahead. The amount of armed gunman seem endless and they won’t stop short of extracting “Bishop” from the prison; there is no reluctance on their part, they are willing to shoot and kill whomever is in the way of their goal. Those remaining inside of Precinct 13, what are they to do? Will they pull together, cops and criminals to defeat the outside forces?? Guess you’ll have to watch and witness the happenings, the twists and turns this film takes.

Overall, I think the cast did a good job. Laurence Fishburne as Marion Bishop was awesome! He effortlessly exudes power, fear, and no nonsense attitude, even though he’s locked up in a prison cell. Fishburne’s subtle intensity is very similar in that of The Matrix. John Leguizamo (Beck) gives another great performance. If you had the chance to watch the film Spun (if you have not watched it or have never heard of it, check out my review), his role is reminiscent of Spider. John adds non-overbearing humor to the film. This is not a “must-see,” but it’s a decent film, something to watch on a boring Sunday afternoon.

GRADE: B-/C+

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