Fortress

Lionsgate | Release Date: December 17, 2021

3.8	USER SCORE Generally unfavorable reviews based on 6 Ratings

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GamingCouchSpudJan 22, 2022

Fortress is the latest film to star Bruce Willis in what I can only imagine was a few days of filming. It seems that a lot of his films these days he signs on for, knowing he will complete filming of his parts in less than a week.Fortress is the latest film to star Bruce Willis in what I can only imagine was a few days of filming. It seems that a lot of his films these days he signs on for, knowing he will complete filming of his parts in less than a week.

Apparently, Fortress is the first of a trilogy of films, with the first two films, filmed back-to-back, and the third already completed. With a relatively small budget, this does seem smart.

Fortress is directed by James Cullen Bressack and written by Alan Horsnail, and based on a story by Emile Hirsch and Randall Emmett.

Bruce Willis stars as Robert Michaels, a retired CIA agent who lives in a secret retirement village in the middle of the woods. His estranged son Paul, played by Jesse Metcalfe decides to come to the village to visit his father, straight away Paul realises things are a bit strange as the retirement village is surrounded by high security, fences and guards. Once inside he tries to convince his father to invest in his business.

Paul however has been followed by his father's old nemesis Frederick Balzary played by Chad Michael Murray, Balzary and his team of highly skilled killers launch an all-out attack on the village with the purpose of capturing Robert. But since this is a secret, high tech retirement village, there is a 70-year-old high tech bunker which everyone escapes to. The rest of the film is a battle between the good guys and the bad guys. A nice addition to the cast is 90210 legend Shannen Doherty who plays Gen. Barbara Dobbs.

The Good
This is more of a Jesse Metcalfe film, than it is a Bruce Willis film, and despite the low budget, a lot of the acting is of a decent quality, the action scenes are good, and the story if a bit cliche at times, is passable.

The Bad
Some of the scenes with Bruce Willis you can tell were filmed separately to the rest of the cast and then spliced in. There are also a few moments where it seems that entire scenes may have been cut, and characters move from one location to another with no real explanation.

Overall
The film is a low budget, action film, with a few decent big-name actors in it. It is never gonna set the world on fire, however it is still a decent film, with some good action scenes and even a few light hearted comedic moments.

I score Fortress a fair 7/10. I enjoyed it.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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getsexyDec 17, 2021

This was a lot better than I expected it to be. Bruce has done a few movies as of late that don't match the star he is, Fortress, finally gets him into a good place. However, the real stars here are Jesse Metcalfe, Chad Michael Murray andThis was a lot better than I expected it to be. Bruce has done a few movies as of late that don't match the star he is, Fortress, finally gets him into a good place. However, the real stars here are Jesse Metcalfe, Chad Michael Murray and Eric West. They keep this movie going. Worth a watch on a boring Sunday. No, this isn't the best Bruce movie ever, I don't think it was ever supposed to be.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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CrazygarSep 18, 2022

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This felt like someone's weekend movie project starring Bruce Willis. So bad, I stopped watching after 35 minutes.

Seriously, that bad. Wooden characters, horrible dialogue (it's complicated), over the top characters that seem to fit in absolutely no where.

First the characters themselves..

Bruce Willis plays the usual type-cast character he usually plays. While pretty much that is the draw. Even at this, the lines... the acting, oh dear lord... what were you thinking?

Of course, the Father/Son conflict... cannot resolve differences... I assume they eventually team up, but 35 minutes was all I could take I did not make it to the end.

Bad Guys: Badder than bad. What's with the big red skull on your flak jacket? For trained mercs, you are absolutely useless any in shape or form. Your usual assortment of characters that always meet a sticky end.

The over the top Villian. Stumbling around a Jungle with expensive clothing on. Nothing says camo better than a white shirt, red tie and silver and red vest.

C'mon, this is starting to insult my intelligence.

The only redeeming bad guy was the battle scene in the foggy (of course) jungle with the lady. At least, he acted like a trained professional not someone collected off the street and given a gun and costume.

Rapping Sergeant in the Golf Cart? Seriously? What the hell? You would think cranking your music and rapping along would be a tactical no no drawing all sorts of attention to yourself. Still trying to figure out why?

3 People at Computers? Big underground facility, four people in it? Seriously. I am still trying to figure out the 3 people on the computers dressed like a maintenance crew at a factory.

The little arrows indicting the people was hilarious and absolutely disjointed. If you had the tech available why use it for only once instance? Did someone throw this scene in at the last minute to make things more dramatic (or attempt to make it dramatic)?

Secondly the plot and set..

Painful and highly predictable. As stated, I could not bring myself to watch the whole movie in it's entirety. I felt guilty and ashamed as if I was doing something I should not have been.

Characters seemed to have no place at all or stupidly stumble about until they are obviously killed or taken prisoner.

Mind you, the Uber Driver, I would have popped a cap in him myself but was once again... predictable. The sets are off the charts dumb. The "Fortress" itself looks like some teenagers game-cave whereas at any moment their Mom is going to open the door and nag at them to clean up. Seriously was this the inspiration?

The obvious foggy forest where you cannot see things.. yada yada yada... cannot get a signal in their area... yada yada...

I felt cheated out of 35 minutes of my life. Watch at your own risk.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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