 Assault on Precinct 13, which stars Laurence Fishburne, Ethan Hawke, and John Leguizamo, is the kind of movie that has critics wondering how producers are able to land terrific talent for remakes of B-pictures. The original was produced in 1976 and directed by John Carpenter. Several critics suggest that the director, Jean-François Richet, making his American film debut, is no John Carpenter. As A.O. Scott writes in the New York Times: "Mr. Carpenter's film ... still resonates with the political paranoia and social unease of the era. Mr. Carpenter's cynical refusal to distinguish clearly between good guys and bad guys feels freshly unsettling, while Mr. Richet's 'modernization' looks like something we've seen a hundred times before." Wesley Morris writes in the Boston Globe that the film "is disappointing for a number of reasons. For one thing, it's silly. For another, it's not always silly enough to be diverting." On the other hand, Peter Howell in the Toronto Star calls the movie "a bold calling card by a helmer to watch." Kevin Thomas in the Los Angeles Times writes that director Richet "displays a terrific sense of mood and atmosphere, and his terse, succinct pacing and involving characters deftly deflect any questions of plausibility." And Bruce Westbrook in the Houston Chronicle adds that "the performers give this potboiler pop." |
