John Carpenter's original 1976 cult classic was an action-packed modernization of the western Rio Bravo, with some '70s social commentary thrown in for good measure. Since deeper themes would be lost on modern audiences, this version sticks exclusively to the high-concept premise: Good guys defend police station; bad guys want in; lots of people get shot.
On New Year's Eve, 2004, a handful of cops work late to shut down Precinct 13. The man in charge of this mundane operation is Jake Roenick (Ethan Hawke), a guy who sticks to desk jobs after becoming burned out—an affliction suffered by all Hollywood cops. Elsewhere, high-profile criminal Marion Bishop (Laurence Fishburne) is arrested, thrown on a bus with a motley crew of delinquents, and taken off to jail, until a snowstorm causes the bus to divert to the precinct. And since dirty cop Marcus Duvall (Gabriel Byrne) will stop at nothing to prevent Bishop from testifying against him, Precinct 13 is in for a long night.
When the cops and prisoners under siege bounce their conflicting and deeply troubled personalities off of each other, the movie comes close to being good, cheesy entertainment. But obsessed with achieving an impressive body count, the filmmakers are too quick to kill off the best characters while racing toward unoriginal action sequences and predictable twists.