CRIMINALS BECOME COMRADES IN BLOODY `ASSAULT' REMAKE.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

THERE'S NOTHING wrong with remaking John Carpenter's 1976 action thriller ``Assault on Precinct 13.'' That film, after all, was an urban update of the great Western ``Rio Bravo,'' which director Howard Hawks remade himself, arguably better, as ``El Dorado.''

And there's very little wrong with Jean-Francois Richet's latest interpretation, except that it doesn't leave much of an impression after all is said and done away with.

The transplanted French director moves the action to a decrepit Detroit police station during a blizzard on New Year's Eve. The formidable force besieging the place is a group of crooked cops instead of traditional outlaws. Characters have traits - more than Carpenter's, less than Hawks' - but none are very original nor interesting. And while well-filmed, this movie can't claim the masterful use of cinematic space that made earlier incarnations unforgettable.

That said, this ``13'' succeeds at being smarter and more classically dramatic than most modern shoot-'em-ups. It's still pretty preposterous, but even some of its sillier excesses can be fun.

Ethan Hawke plays the traumatized Sgt. Jake Roenick. He's been desk- jockeying the about-to-be-shuttered Precinct 13 since a drug sting he honchoed went terribly wrong and left him an alcoholic, pill-popping wreck. When weather forces crime kingpin Marion Bishop (Laurence Fishburne) and a few small-timers (John Leguizamo, Jeffrey ``Ja Rule'' Atkins, Aisha Hinds) to cool their heels overnight in P13's holding cells, the undermanned stationed is attacked by an army of corrupt cops, out to silence Bishop before he fingers them.

Roenick's defense team consists of an about-to-retire Irish cop (Brian Dennehy), the station's sexually provocative secretary (ex-``Sopranos'' star Drea de Matteo) and a police psychiatrist with obsessive-compulsive disorder (Maria Bello). The latter two are sleazily underclad in party attire most of the time, and they aren't real good with automatic weapons. Inevitably, Roenick must release and arm his prisoners if any of them are to survive the night. Whether or not they'll end up killing each other before outside enemies do the job becomes a constant question.

Always tense, sometimes witty and even morally probing in places, ``13'' doesn't skimp on the mayhem, either. It can be shocking and even surprising, at least by the degraded standards of contemporary urban thrillers. But the violence eventually overwhelms the new film's ideas - and that's something Hawks, and even Carpenter, never let their movies get away with.

Bob Strauss, [phone]

bob.strauss(at)dailynews.com

ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 - Two and one half stars

(R: violence, language, drug use)

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Laurence Fishburne, Gabriel Byrne, Drea de Matteo, Maria Bello, Brian Dennehy, John Leguizamo, Jeffrey ``Ja Rule'' Atkins.

Director: Jean-Francois Richet.

Running time: 1 hr. 49 min.

Playing: Wide release.

In a nutshell: Serviceable remake of the classic urban siege thriller has a few new ideas, OK acting and staging but nothing that really sticks with you.

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Ethan Hawke plays a police sergeant fighting corrupt cops in ``Assault on Precinct 13.''