ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 (2005)

OK, this remake was likely pointless but it has a good cast and I wanted to see what changes had been made to the original 1976 cult classic.  I expected it to stick fairly closely to the basic plot but that the action sequences might be an improvement, given a bigger budget.

One change is that we've moved from LA in the summer to Detroit in a snowstorm on New Year's Eve.  A snow storm is a good way of creating a siege-like atmosphere even before you're under siege, so a good change I would say.

Another big change is that the attackers are no longer gang members but are corrupt cops.  It's an interesting idea but unfortunately it does stretch credulity that so many cops have gone to the Dark Side, so much so that by the end they are prepared to kill fellow officers and civilians.  And they are absurdly well kitted out, to the point that by the end they are calling up a helicopter.

They are attacking the rundown police station because inside is a gangster, Bishop (the always charismatic Laurence Fishburne) who they must kill in order to stop him exposing them. 

This being a remake we must give the hapless police sergeant running the station, Roenick (Ethan Hawke), a back story and a redemption arc.  A few months earlier he was an undercover cop whose team died in a botched operation, causing him to lose his mojo and to rely on drugs.  By the end of the film he has of course recovered his mojo (phew!) although the moment this happens wasn't obvious to me.

Drea de Matteo (Adriana from 'The Sopranos') as the secretary Iris is far too glamorous for the role.  If that wasn't enough, also trapped in the station is Roenick's attractive psychiatrist, Alexandra.  I was expecting her to use her expertise to help Roenick to keep it together but instead she (realistically under the circumstances) goes to pieces.  It's a bit of a surprise when she dies not least because one would think this would really set Roenick back.

In the original, the attackers are anonymous whereas here we get to know the chief bad cop, Duvall (Gabriel Byrne) as he directs operations.  This is not necessarily an improvement but inevitably it means we get a final confrontation between Roenick and Duvall.  This takes place bizarrely in a forest in the middle of Detroit, very strange given that this should be an urban film if nothing else.

Anyway, a fine cast, including Brian Dennehy as the obligatory veteran cop just about to retire, do their best, but there's no getting away from the fact that the direction is anonymous and unable to give any moment much in the way of dramatic punch.  The action sequences are pedestrian.

I did enjoy the performance of John Leguizamo as a junkie although I can imagine some viewers finding it annoying. 

So yes, a pointless remake.

RATING: x Find Something Better To Do