Assault on Precinct 13

Starring Ethan Hawke, Laurence Fishburne, Maria Bello, Drea De Matteo

Rated R

            “Assault on Precinct 13” is an entertaining remake of the 1976 cult classic of the same name. The film stars a wide variety of actors, from Ethan Hawke to Ja Rule, and maintains a steady catapult of action mixed with some emotional human drama.

            Hawke is Jake Roenick, a distressed cop working at Precinct 13, a run-down police station that is about to be shut down. On Precinct 13’s last night (New Year’s Eve, to be exact), a bus full of criminals arrive at the station’s front doors, and the precinct is forced to keep the batch of crooks and thieves overnight.

            Later that night, vans and gunmen surround Precinct 13, and begin attacking the station. Roenick assumes the people are there to rescue infamous prisoner Marion Bishop (Laurence Fishburne.) The situation turns out to be that the people are there to kill Marion.

            Eventually, Roenick is forced to trust the criminals and give them weapons of their own; if the precinct is to defeat the murderous people outside, they must have as many men as possible.

            “Assault on Precinct 13” is more than a standard action yarn; the film has intense moments and splendid action sequences, and provides good roles for many great actors including Maria Bello, Drea De Matteo, John Leguizamo, and Gabriel Byrne.

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