Assault
on Precinct 13 is a retelling of John Carpenter’s stylized actioneer from
1976. Even though that picture wasn’t exactly regarded as a classic, it was
Carpenter’s follow-up to the little seen Dark Star, and sort of put his name
on the map (he would do the infamous Halloween shortly after). I’ve always
had a fondness for that movie (as I do for most of Carpenter’s efforts).
As a siege picture, Assault on Precinct 13 had all the right ingredients, most
notably tension and an undeniable sense of claustrophobia.
This
version has similar such attributes along with an updated twist – this time,
the villains are a pack of murderous, crooked cops as opposed to your standard
street hoods. Recalling the classic western, Assault on Precinct 13 sets up a
simplistic premise and plays out a little like Howard Hawks’ Rio Bravo, albeit
not as memorable.
In
this violent, action flick, Ethan Hawke is burned-out police officer Jake Roenick.
Along with a couple of fellow officers and a few criminals they’re holding
in a cell at a soon-to-be-closed Precinct 13, this reluctant team is forced to
work together so that they might fend off an army of masked men who have taken
the condemned precinct, under siege. Compounding the situation is the fact that
it’s New Year’s Eve, there’s a horrendous blizzard and well, they’re
in Detroit,. The attackers’ objective? To capture prisoner Bishop (played
by Laurence Fishburne), a crime lord with ties in the highest of places.
Assault
on Precinct 13 is fast-paced and never pretends to be high art. It’s all
pretty straight forward action fare and the movie is perfectly comfortable in
it’s own skin. In other words, be prepared to be assaulted with an onslaught
of bullets and bloodshed. This isn’t a character driven movie, although Ethan
Hawke does manage to create a fully textured role. At times, I almost felt as
if his Jake belonged in a different movie.
Hawke
is very good here, and his first scene is particularly noteworthy, even if it
did remind me of the hyper kinetic opening frames of Joe Carnahan’s Narc.
Fishburne pretty much just duplicates his Morpheus role from The Matrix. He has
a quietness about him, but we’re always completely aware that he can go ballistic
if need be-and he does. Maria Bello has a few nice moments as a psychiatrist with
obsessive-compulsive disorder. Brian Dennehy, playing a sort of variation of his
role in First Blood, is fun as a grizzled, old time police officer. Gabriel Byrne
is on cruise control as a cop with an agenda, while Drea de Matteo is positively
laughable as a nymphomaniac secretary (which is too bad given her rich portrayal
on The Sopranos).
The
criminals that join forces with Jake are completely stock. John Leguizamo is particularly
annoying as a spastic drug addict. He’s the token comic relief, and his routine
wears thin quickly. I suppose there’s something to be said for his energy
though.
This Assault
on Precinct 13 was directed by John Francois-Richet, and he does do a good job
setting the mood. The introduction to Jake is intense, and as the picture progresses,
we do feel isolated with the characters trapped in the precinct. The pouring snow
heightens the tension. I also thought this picture had a lot of balls. Several
characters die rather unexpectedly, but the proceedings would have been far more
effective had we known some of these people a little bit more.
The
action is standard. And in fact, one scene in particular appears to be a direct
lift from a John McClane terrorist offing in Die Hard 2. Often, Richet puts us
too close to the action so that it’s hard to see what’s going on. Still,
and I was never really bored.
Assault
on Precinct 13 has it’s moments and I appreciate that it is what it is and
never really takes itself seriously. That makes the ridiculous dialogue and situations
tolerable. Richet is no John Carpenter, but his film does move at a quick pace
. At the very least, I found it more entertaining than the recent Flight of the
Phoenix and that silly National Treasure movie.
