When I walk out of the movie theater and start forgetting what I just watched, that is usually not a good sign. This is the case with this movie, because even though I enjoyed the movie while I watched, it became very forgettable the minute my foot hit the door. So, I guess I am saying is, while enjoyable, you won't remember you saw this movie until you hear someone say, "Hey did you see the new Assault on Precinct 13?"

"Assault on Precinct 13" is a remake of John Carpenter's 1976 movie, which he did right before making it big with "Halloween," with the same name where a bunch of Los Angeles police officers are under siege in a soon to be closed police station in south central LA. The 2005 version takes place in Detroit on New Years Eve 2004 during a blizzard. Precinct 13 is about to be closed down the next day.

There are only three officers watching over the station, Sergeant Roenick, played by Ethan Hawke (Taking Lives), the old man soon to retire Jasper, played by Brian Dennehy (Romeo + Juliet), and the female cop who likes bad boys Iris, played by Drea de Matteo (TV's Sopranos). All is supposed to be peaceful during this blizzard except a bus transporting convicts get stuck in the blizzard and is forced to go to precinct 13 for the night. On this bus is the high profile killer named Marion Bishop, played by Lawerence Fishburne (The Matrix), a cop killer with a secret.

The 2005 movie is different in that the bad guys are not gang members of Detroit but a dirty cop named Marcus Duvall, played by Gabriel Byrne (Vanity Fair), who partnered up with Bishop years earlier. Now Duvall needs to kill Bishop, so he won't come clean with his Detroit Police connections. Standing in Duvall's way are the three above mentioned police officers, the two cops on the bus, three convicts who were in transport with Bishop and one Psychiatrist named Alex, played by Maria Bello (Secret Window). These people have to fight against two dozen of Duvall's special weapons units.

The story is just that plain, a few nice twists with the exception of making the cops be the bad guys again. In the beginning of these kinds of movie's, I always like to write down who I think is going to make it and who are the "red shirts" of the movie. I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised that I was wrong on a few of them. So, I do give credit to screenwriter James DeMonaco (The Negotiator), for making a very PC Hollywood script mildly entertaining.

The directing was very adequate, and it was nice to see a violent movie again which didn't deal with war or genocide, kind of a throw back to the 1980's, during which I am thankful Jean-Francois Richet (De l'amour - France), directed it in that style.

Yet even though there were things I enjoyed about the movie, I can say with the exception of Maria Bello--I think it's just because I think she is attractive, the acting was poor. Ethan Hawke did nothing to inspire me to root for him. His acting was very tiresome and to say that about a character who has been written 1000 times is not a good thing. Fishburne was in his usual mode of overacting, which is great for "The Matrix" movies, but not for this. The rest of the performances are not even worth mentioning, including the other actors who are well known, but I will not mention their names. They do not deserve it.

There were other things which didn't make sense, like the magical appearance of a forest in downtown Detroit where the final part of the last act took place. Or, a Tommy gun that must have been 50 years old which worked better than the M-16 weapons both good and bad guys were using. That is just a few of the problems; small, but annoying.

In the end, I enjoyed the movie, but I don't think it will find its way into my collection, because the acting was just plain horrible. Go ahead and rent it at Blockbuster or what ever rental company you use, but don't waste the $8 at the movie theater.

Brian - the Naked Gun