13 (2010) Reviews

I might be generous with my rating but I actually liked this remake. Of course, you wonder what was the whole point of doing this remake since it didn't add much to the original which was also directed by the same guy, Géla Babluani. Still, it remains an intriguing concept even if, this time, I knew the whole story which wasn't the case with the first version. The first mistake they made was to start with the end of the game which removed most of the mystery involved in the first 20 minutes. Then, the ominous music was efficient but a little too omnipresent for my taste. Still, there were some nice touches. Indeed, this time, you didn't have a bunch of unknows, but some well known faces who were perfectly chosen (Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Michael Shannon, Ray Winstone, Alexander Skarsgård, Ben Gazzara, 50 Cent) and I liked the fact they tried to show the background of some of the players. It was indeed a nice approach, different than the original movie, and they should have gone further in this direction but, unfortunately, except for the main character, all the other characters were rather poorly developped. Still, even though it was a rather useless remake, the whole thing remained quite intriguing and even though you should rather watch the original, this version is still worth a look in my opinion.

This movie is best seen as a drinking game: every time something that doesn't make any sense happens you drink. Otherwise you won't make it through the movie... it may have good actors in it, but believe me, you won't notice it because the movie is so bad.

wow, if you like deer hunter you will like 13, suspense suspense!