Now in theaters: Remade 'Assault' outflanks original
By STEVE PERSALL, Times Film Critic
Published January 20, 2005
[Photo: Rogue Pictures]
Assault on Precinct 13 (R) is a remake and a one-uppance of John Carpenter's 1976 thriller. Director Jean-Francois Richet makes his first English-language film, but all we need to hear are the bullets as heavily armed invaders storm a Detroit police station.
The reason has changed; Carpenter's villains were street gang members taking revenge on "the Man," in 1970s parlance. Richet's bad guys are crooked cops needing to kill a jailed mobster (Laurence Fishburne) before he exposes their corruption. Standing in the way is Sgt. Jake Roenick (Ethan Hawke), whose last night running Precinct 13 before it's decommissioned isn't as quiet as he hoped.
The violence factor has intensified beyond 1970s levels; anyone can die a messy death at any time. But this film's intensity, its relentless pursuit of the next coldblooded moment, is more buoyant than anything Carpenter achieved since his heyday with Halloween and Escape From New York.
The film co-stars Maria Bello (The Cooler) as Roenick's psychologist after a doomed undercover assignment shattered his spirit. Drea de Matteo (The Sopranos) is a sexy dispatcher, and Brian Dennehy is the veteran cop getting too old for this stuff. Toss in Gabriel Byrne as a turncoat and John Leguizamo playing a junkie bystander, and Assault on Precinct 13 has more than its share of targets for shooting.
