After young Kathy (the amazing Kim Richards) was shot in the chest during the beginning of John Carpenter’s original “Assault on Precinct 13,” all bets were off. Clearly anything could happen in a film that would so nonchalantly kill off an innocent child. “Assault” had guts, a cool Howard Hawks vibe and a kinetic energy that virtually shot off the screen. It also had one of Carpenter’s most insidious (and minimal) soundtrack compositions. The new “Assault” doesn’t have any of this (let alone the first great Carpenter heroine Laurie Zimmer). The grindhouse gods should have intervened and at least given her a cameo! It does have strong direction and a smart script in what amounts to a better-than-average action film.

Officer Roenick (Ethan Hawke) can’t get past a drug bust gone awry. 8 months after two of his undercover team members were gunned down he finds himself in a downward spiral. Addicted to painkillers from a leg injury and stuck in a desk job - he’s a brooding protagonist just itching for catharsis. The small precinct that Roenick’s been assigned to (the 13 of the title) is in the final stages of shutting down; already free of prisoners and most of the staff. During the last night of operation, poorly timed on New Years’ Eve, Roenick, fellow officer Jaspers (Brian Dennehy) and sexpot secretary Iris (Drea de Matteo) plan to have a small celebration. With the phone service turned off and a snowstorm outside, the three anticipate an uneventful evening. Unfortunately their plans for a quiet New Years’ are interrupted by some unexpected guests. A busload of prisoners is forced to make a detour because of the weather, seeking refuge for the night. The new inmates include high profile “cop killer” Marion Bishop (Laurence Fishburne), addict Beck (John Leguizamo) hustler Smiley (Ja Rule) and gang member Anna (Aisha Hinds). Also caught in the storm, police psychiatrist Alex (Maria Bello) joins the growing guest list. Just after 2005 is ushered in, two masked men break into the cell area and attempt to take Bishop. Their plans are thwarted, but only after a deadly altercation with a guard. More masked men surround the precinct; demanding that Bishop be turned over to them. Roenick refuses to give up the prisoner, choosing to fend off the attackers instead. After an all-out siege on the precinct, Roenick discovers that the masked men outside aren’t working with Bishop. They’re in fact crooked cops who were allies with the criminal and now intend to have him killed before he can finger anyone. Head dirty cop Duvall (Gabriel Byrne) orders that everyone inside the precinct must be killed in order to keep things quiet. As in the original classic, the precinct officers are forced to forge uneasy alliances with the prisoners; setting them free and giving them guns to help fend off further attack.

“Assault on Precinct 13” 2005 is a perfectly well made action film. It’s also enough of a “re-imagining” that it’s unlikely to upset fans of the original. Many of the changes that writer James DeMonaco has added to the narrative skeleton are quite smart and work well in a new Millennium context. The switch from the silent gang antagonists in Carpenter’s film to a group of corrupt police is clever and greatly adds to the helplessness of the situation. The psychologically wounded hero, though cliché, also gives the story a nuance that the original didn’t have. Roenick’s reluctance to give up the prisoner and fight is directly related to his guilt-laden back story. The action set-pieces are on a much grander scale and director Jean-Francois Richet excels in the taught execution of the sieges. Cinematographer Robert Gantz fluidly captures the action, but many of the scenes are over lit. The addition of lights in the sewer more than illustrates this point. One of the few marked improvements over the original are the performances. Carpenter’s film is a classic and works on several levels, but the acting is, at best, uneven. There is all around great work here, especially Hawke as the burned out officer and Leguizamo as the erratic junkie. Dennehy can always be counted on for strong supporting work; here he’s basically doing a variation on a stock Charles Cyphers role. Bello as Roenick’s psychiatrist has a wonderful first scene, her interaction with Hawke feels very much in the spirit of the original film. (There’s sort of a Laurie Zimmer/Darwin Joston chemistry between them.) Bello’s character is so great in that one scene that it’s a shame they brought her back. All the sly flirting and innuendo is immediately jettisoned for a more conventional (and inappropriate) relationship angle. Fishburne gives his usual strong performance as the level headed Bishop while “Soprano’s” vixen de Matteo (a true Carpenter heroine if there ever was one) is solid, but often coasts on her TV personae.

The main problems with the film are, ironically, what make the new narrative so appealing. The “crooked cops as bad guys” works up to a point. When the threat is a small group of men in masks, it maintains a certain credibility. Because this is a big budget film, the action elements dictate that the threat be bigger. So more crooked police arrive (how many can there be?) and all manner of gadgets and weapons are introduced to eliminate the precinct captives. At some point, maybe after the third explosive, the machine gun fire, the helicopters… wouldn’t the real police or at least the media become involved? Another mistake is the character of Duvall (Byrne); giving the “bad guys” an actual mouthpiece really waters down the tension. Is it really necessary that the audience know what the antagonists are thinking? The silent gang members from the first film were a truly frightening presence. If Carpenter had continuously cut back and fourth between the two groups, it would have been a very different experience. Byrne is always great, but here he’s wasted in a minor part that proves distracting. There is also a gratuitous computer generated pull from the precinct window into the chilly winter night that illustrates everything wrong with big budget films. It’s superfluous and makes one long for the economy and sharp composition Douglas Knapp brought to the original film. The long climax through a dark, snowy wooded area is also underwhelming as poorly edited.

This is a typically slick DVD package for a typically slick action film. “Assault” is presented in Anamorphic widescreen 2.40:1 and the picture is pristine. The Dolby Digital Mix is solid and appropriately showcases the great sound design and underwhelming score (by Graeme Revell). Bonus features are the usual glossy studio-imposed featurettes, of which there are four. There is also director, writer and producer commentary, Universal previews (not much of a bonus) and some excised scenes with commentary. It’s a great DVD package of a solid film.

Stripped of its thriller trappings and gritty grind house aesthetic, the big budget remake of John Carpenter’s 1976 classic “Assault on Precinct 13” isn’t as memorable, but proves a solid action film in its own right.