Assault On Precinct 13

Remakes are fine and good, if they better the original. But do they ever?

To better John Carpenter's cult Seventies classic, director Jean-Francois Richet is swimming against a tidal wave, and, realising this, has opted to bring the original up to date. While retaining the basic foundations, a marked deviation in plot and an increase in personnel has allowed him to stamp his own signature on this modern day version.

Ethan Hawke is a troubled cop in charge of Precinct 13 on Hogmanay, the day before it is set to close down. Alongside saucy secretary Iris, (Drea de Matteo) and colleague Jasper (Brian Dennehy), they are ready to pack up for the night, when Detroit's worst criminals pay them a visit, after getting caught in a winter storm, en route to a transfer prison. This motley crew, headed by "the star of the show" Bishop (Laurence Fishburne), Detroit's most wanted gang leader, is locked up in the cells, until all hell breaks loose.

First, the windows go. Then a group of armed assailants pile in through the back, taking all by surprise. No, it's not the suicide gang bangers of the original, fighting to the death with their cholo as mascot. This time, we have the mercenary wing of Detroit's police department, headed by Marcus Duvall (Gabriel Byrne). He and the rest of his force have been in cahoots with Bishop's gangs, taking backhanders left right and centre for years, and are now there to destroy everyone involved, before Bishop goes to trial and spills the beans.

This isn't a bad adaptation, but as a thriller is not a patch on the original. By throwing more spanners in the works, Richet has ended up shooting himself in the foot. Where in the Carpenter version there were brilliant verbal standoffs between Bishop and the black cop, James DeMonaco's script is overcrowded with uneventful dialogue and, stylistically, the first Precinct was far more minimalist.

Moreover, the tension, masterfully created by Carpenter, particularly his menacing musical score, is all but lost. Tough and uncompromising, the original blood gang's motto was "To The Death," and, boy, did they prove it when they shot the little girl at the ice cream van, point blank in the head. In the 2005 version, we have a few hypocritical cops double crossing, back stabbing and making spurious compromises. The atmosphere is sterile by comparison.

This is not to say the film is redundant. It's not a bad thriller and all the actors pull their weight. Fishburne is sufficiently menacing as Bishop and Hawke, after Training Day, seems a dab hand at playing cops with a lot on their plate. Ultimately, however, the older, wiser cousin sits in the cult record books comfortably, unchallenged by Richet's new signature.