Jericho Ridge

The story has been told many times: A siege of a police station. Where have you heard that before? Unfortunately, there is no other way, but this film has to be measured against the classic Assault on Precinct 13 by John Carpenter. And unfortunately it falls short compared to the 1976 original (and even compared to the 2005 remake).

There are attempts to introduce some (insignificant) subplots, but ultimately it is only about the said siege.

And here a few peculiarities are noticeable: firstly, there is the almost complete lack of weapons (we are talking about a station that is not supposed to be abandoned). Then the main character has full access to the Internet and telephone...but instead of moving heaven and earth to get help...No, she probably doesn't think of such things.

Finally, we have the main character who is severely handicapped by a leg injury...it is actually doubtful that such a person would be reinstated as fit for duty...even for a desk job.

As everyone else says in their reviews, this film owes a big debt to John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13. Well, if you're going to borrow, borrow from the best. So, no, this doesn't score many points for originality, but this taut, stripped down actioner is a thoroughly entertaining film in its own right.

Nikki Amuka-Bird is superb in the main role - as she always is - and lends great depth to the police officer character she plays. All the way through, you feel her fear and tension as the situation spirals out of control, and are fully with her as she fights to survive against the odds.

The action scenes are very well done, and there are enough twists and turns to keep things moving along nicely. Most of the other characters are fairly thinly drawn, but this doesn't really matter, and at around 90 minutes there is no excess flab.

I don't think this set the world on fire when it first came out, but it's a hidden gem of a movie that deserves to be more widely seen. Much better than most bloated blockbusters that cost ten times as much!

I put this on expecting it to be background noise while I worked on my laptop but was immediately drawn into the story. The premise is pretty basic and we've seen it a million times but you don't mind it here because all the characters, even the side ones, immediately feel like real people with real baggage. The acting in general is solid all around but Amuka-Bird is amazing. The action is pretty brutal too. There are some scenes where you know what's about to happen but the impact of the violence still hits. Between this and Average Joe, also on BET+, the service is starting to come into its own. The app itself is still trash but that is a different story.

Another variant of ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13, except that some fifty years after the original this looks and feels cheaper than ever and makes the Carpenter film look like a big budget epic by comparison. Here, the cast is whittled down to just half a dozen characters, the villains are little seen, and a lot rides on the strength of the leading character. Thankfully, Amuka-Bird is up to the task of creating a sympathetic lead, glossing over some of the character cliches to deliver a character which is both resilient and sympathetic. The action is less well handled and it's all a little too dark and too slick, but it's watchable enough for a B-thriller.

This film is editor and writer Will Gilbey's first full-length feature film directorial debut, and he did not disappoint. The film isn't perfect by any means, but considering the filmmaker is not a seasoned pro, there's some forgiveness allowed for typical newb filmmaker rookie mistakes. There weren't many mistakes, and aside from some plot and technical issues, everything else was pretty much on point. The comfortable 87 min runtime flew by with decent pacing, and a story that had a great flow to it, as well as constant tension and suspense. There were some decent twists thrown in for good measure. The casting and performances were good, and the cinematography and score spot on, especially for a B-film. It's actually one of the better B-films I've seen in a while. It's a great one-time watch I'm sure everyone will enjoy, especially with all the big budget Hollywood blockbusters that have come out recently and have disappointed. It's a well deserved 7/10 from me.