Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Suman Roberson It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Noelle The movie is surprisingly subdued in its pacing, its characterizations, and its go-for-broke sensibilities.

NateWatchesCoolMovies Assault On Precinct 13 is less of a remake of John Carpenter's balls out, guerrilla action treatise and more of a branch off into timeless, near western archetypes, as well as the good old siege thriller format. It's also one of the meanest, grittiest cop films of the last few decades, deserving a higher rung on the ladder of adoration than it has so far ascended to. Dark, merciless and full of yuletide gallows humour, it's a searing blast of gunfire and snowbound pulp starring a roster of fired up talent, starting with an intense Ethan Hawke and an unpredictable, predatory Laurence Fishburne. Fishburne is Marion Bishop, a legendary criminal kingpin wrapped tight in police custody and shipped off to a remote precinct on New Years eve with a busload of fellow prisoner transports. The station is run by a few relaxed cops, all preparing to punch that clock and get the New Year's festivities underway. Unfortunately, a gang of corrupt detectives have other ideas, descending upon the ill guarded outpost with the fury and firepower of animals set loose, determined to murder everyone inside and level the place to the ground in order to cover up their actions. Hawke is the veteran cop with a dodgy undercover past, blessed with the grit and gristle necessary to rally the troupes and self preserve til the morning light. Drea De Matteo, who's awesome and welcome in anything, is a tough female sergeant, Maria Bello the sharp police psychiatrist caught in the middle, Brian Dennehy the salty old dog, and a laundry list of rabid felons who pitch in to save their own asses, including Ja Rule, Aisha Hinds, Currie Graham and a wired up John Leguizamo. Together they all make a veritable wild bunch to hold down the fort, but the forces they're up against are tactical and terrifying. The opposition is headed up by a dangerously quiet Gabriel Byrne as deeply a corrupt Police Captain, doing a coiled viper rendition of a Christopher Walken villain, his work one of the strongest aspects of the film. Watch for Matt Craven and Kim Coates in brief cameos as well. The action is a ballistic blitzkrieg of firefights, standoffs and ditch efforts, scarcely giving the audience time to breathe, let alone tally up the casualties, of which there are many. This ain't no cakewalk, in terms of action films. It's down, dirty and has no time for quips, smart mouths or villains that monologue. Everyone involved in a caged animal prepared to go to extremes at the drop of a hat in order to achieve their goals, with kneejerk reactions and off the cuff violence that feels real, and cuts deep. If you are serious about your action films, and enjoy ruthless, non patronizing narratives that get as cold as the snow drifts surrounding the precinct and as casually indifferent as the bullets that ventilate it, this is your ticket.

David Arnold I've not seen the original film - yet - so I've nothing to compare this remake to, but if the original is as enjoyable as this then I'll be looking forward to seeing what all the fuss is about. I know remakes can get battered by a lot of people true to the original films, but instead of complaining about them, I like to have an open mind, and it's only after watching them I'll comment.Not all remakes/reboots are bad.Anyway, this version of Assault on Precinct 13 is a very decent action/thriller that's (mostly) well scripted, well filmed, and very well acted. I say "mostly" with regard to the well scripted comment because there were a couple of moments where the dialogue was a bit cheesy. Thankfully it was only mild cheese instead of full blown blue stilton. Then again, I guess you can't have an action film without at least some cheese. Other than that, however, the film is written well enough with a nice wee twist at the end.One thing that can sometimes be ignored in a lot of action films is the cinematography but with this film I enjoyed some of the outdoor scenes with the way the makers set the tone & atmosphere using the weather. It's not a huge thing and it is subtle but for me it was a nice touch.The main cast all give solid performances, from John Leguizamo's portrayal as Beck, a somewhat amusing (yet slightly annoying at the same time) small-time crook, to Laurence Fishburne's role of Marion Bishop, a more calculating & menacing mob boss.For me, the only unrealistic element of the film was the amount of police that ended up being involved. I mean the initial group led by Gabriel Byrne is understandable given the circumstances, but in the end it just went a bit over-the-top. But, this IS an action film and not a documentary, so, again, unrealistic moments are to be expected and it's not as if it ruins the experience.As long as you're not naive to expect something fantastic, then you should find this film enjoyable enough.

Ben Larson It was just an accident that I chose two Ethan Hawke movies in the same night. This had to be before he was chopped up in Sinister.Besides Hawke, we have Lawrence Fishburne, Drea de Matteo, Mario Bello, John Leguizamo, Brian Dennehy, and Ja Rule. There has to be someone in that mix that makes the film worth watching for you.Precinct 13 has a skeleton crew on duty New Years Eve because it is scheduled to close. A storm forces a police bus carrying a criminal named Bishop (Laurence Fishburne), Beck (John Leguizamo), a girl(Aisha Hinds) and Smiley (Ja Rule) to dump them off.Naturally, Bishop's men will try to break him out and we are witness to some real action. Only it isn't Bishop's men coming after him, and things really get dicey.

adi_2002 On New Year's Eve In Detroit police manage to catch Bishop, a dangerous gangster which is known to kill a cop. He is transferred to a maximum security prison but due to storms are forced to stop in section 13 who is Chief Jake who manages to overcome a difficult moment when a few months ago in a mission because of his wrong orders a few people were killed. At this point he and his team are obliged to take the detainees in cells but inside are appearing a few masked mans and cops think it is Bishop 's friends who came to get him out of there but later learn that they are some cops actually who wants the gangster dead because it holds some valuable information about them and that might incriminate the dirty cops if they are disclosed. Now Jake is forced to ally with the prisoners to keep up and prevent them from reaching Bishop but occurs a few unexpected surprises.A film which action is not absent, has a good dose of mystery and good performances from Ethan Hawke and Laurence Fishburne. It should not be missed.