Assault on Precinct 13

June 16, 2005

Rated: R Runtime: 109 min Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Assault on Precinct 13 is the most violent movie we’ve seen in a while. For many reviews that statement would be the start of a negative review. But we’re happy to see a film earn that R-rating. Euro-weenies, hippies, liberals and other pansies may never understand our love for guns and violence, but we say let the bodies hit the floor!

Assault on Precinct 13 This is a remake of a John Carpenter film that I’ve never seen, so I cant compare it. The storyline is a familiar one though. It has been used in everything from westerns to sci-fi, but this time it’s set in a jail. Ethan Hawke plays the burned out desk sergeant of a rathole of a Detroit police precinct on New Years Eve. It’s the last night of operation for that precinct before they move to a newer one, and it has only a skeleton staff and very little equipment. A snowstorm forces a prison bus hauling a mob-boss to stop there for the night to wait out the storm. Before long, the precinct comes under assault from large groups of very well armed assailants seeking the release of the mobster.

We went in with very low expectations, but we were peppered with pretty much non-stop action and really enjoyed ourselves. The casting is great. We liked Hawke in Training Day, and he turns in an equally good performance here. John Leguizamo is perfect as the paranoid druggy. Fishburne is just totally cool as the mobster. And Ja Rule gets in some great lines as Smiley, who always refers to himself in third person. “Smiley is scared as a mutherfu….”, well you get the idea.

The chemistry of the cast works well enough to hold our attention when there’s not something on screen blowing up or getting shot up. The action is non-stop to the point of almost feeling like a video game at some points. Desite this, for the most part the movie maintains believability, it only started to slip a bit toward the end especially when they somehow found a forest in a Detroit neighborhood to set some scenes in.

We really enjoyed this movie for what it is. We’re a sucker for action. And yes, it is cool to see a bad guy get what is coming to him in a profusely violent manner. And we’re not alone, the nice polite well dressed young man seated in front of me once pumped his fist and went “yes!” during a scene where one of the bad guys gets capped from behind with a pistol shot at point blank range to the back of his skull. If you’re disgusted right now, stay home. If on the other hand you just put down a copy of your favorite first person shooter video game and are thinking this sounds cool, go see it.

Posted by Billy Bob | Filed Under 4 Stars, Action, DVD, Ethan Hawke, John Leguizamo, Laurence Fishburne, Maria Bello, R, drea de matteo