Review of Assault on Precinct 13 (2005) by Xgary X — 02 Nov 2007

A police station with a skeleton staff that is about to be decommissioned plays unexpected host to a notorious gangster, and suddenly finds itself under seige. This remake of John Carpenter's classic is unsurprisingly not a patch on the original, but still an efficient (albeit humourless) shoot-em-up.

Ethan Hawke does well with his stereotypical burnt out cop character and Fishburne is as charismatic as always; it's also nice to see female characters that are not screeching and hysterical damsels in distress.

Atmospheric and nicely shot, but the tension and menace of an unseen, anonymous and largely motiveless enemy is replaced by weak characterisation and some nonsense about corrupt cops. A pretty good actioner that's let down only by a morally suspect ending and the typical insistence on casting a rapper in a supporting role instead of a real actor.