Fortress is a 2021 American action thriller film about a retired CIA agent and his son fending off criminals in their high-tech bunker.
The film is the first of a trilogy starring Bruce Willis. Fortress: Sniper’s Eye will be released on April 29, 2022.
Directed by James Cullen Bressack (Hot Seat; Survive the Game; Beyond the Law; Blood Craft; Bethany; Pernicious; Blood Lake) from a screenplay written by Alan Horsnail. Produced by Randall Emmett, George Furla, Bobby Ranghelov, Luillo Ruiz and Chad A. Verdi.
The Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films-Grindstone Entertainment Group-Verdi Productions movie stars Bruce Willis (Apex; Deadlock; Midnight in the Switchgrass; Out of Death; Hard Kill; Cosmic Sin; Breach; Glass; Die Hard franchise).
The movie also stars Chad Michael Murray (Survive the Game; Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman; Camp Cold Brook; House of Wax), Jesse Metcalfe (Hard to Kill; Dead Rising: Endgame; Dead Rising: Watchtower), Shannen Doherty (Bethany; Blood Lake: Attack of the Killer Lampreys; Satan’s School for Girls), Sean Kanan, Kelly Greyson, Ser’Darius Blain and Michael Sirow (Survive the Game; Out of Death; Jeepers Creepers 3; The Midnight Man).
Plot:
Robert Michaels (Bruce Willis) is a retired CIA agent living at a secret resort in the woods. One day, his estranged son Paul (Jesse Metcalfe) arrives at the camp for a visit. Unfortunately, Paul is followed by Robert’s old nemesis, Balzary (Chad Michael Murray).
As the site is besieged by Balzary’s attack squad, father and son retreat to a high-tech bunker. But are its steel walls and advanced weapons of the bunker powerful enough to match Balzary’s bloodthirsty plans for revenge?
Our review
Fortress is fairly standard low-level action movie fodder that will cause no surprises. There is some brief estranged father and son bonding blandness to endure but once the villains’ attack on the fortress begins the movie moves fairly swiftly.
Whilst Bruce Willis doesn’t do much but let off a few shots and then sit around looking uncomfortable for much of the running time – as per many of his recent roles – a minor plus point is the stronger roles for female characters played by Shannen Doherty and Kelly Greyson. And it has to be said that some of Willis‘ recent movies have been so vapid Fortress is at least a slight step up for the seemingly disinterested former Hollywood icon.
Meanwhile, Chad Michael Murray and Jesse Metcalfe are clearly having fun as the lead baddie and crypto fund entrepreneur respectively and add some gravitas to the proceedings, making this more than just a mere brainless actioner.
Shooting most of the film in a supposed underground bunker saves on the budget but at least the Puerto Rican jungle locations are authentic rather than the usual bit of Californian scrublands, such as Bronson Canyon, where these types of limited-budget movies are often shot.
The downsides are the bizarre lack of security for such a high-tech facility (Kate and Paul leave the hidden bunker hatch open at one point) and reliance on Michael Sirow‘s slightly irritating Blain character to do much of the combat. He’s the kind of guy who grinningly blares out urban music in the middle of a jungle – thus bafflingly letting the villains know his location – and jokes about going for burgers in the middle of a fight scene. Is this supposed to make him seem like a loveable rogue?
Fortress isn’t of the calibre to suggest it already warrants two sequels but the financial expediency of shooting three movies almost back-to-back presumably prompted this decision rather than a promise of quality. It will at least be interesting to see how the filmmakers try to continue to develop what seems a rather limited premise going forward.
Adrian J Smith, MOVIES & MANIA
Other reviews:
“Fortress features some fun action sequences, director James Cullen Bressack uses some great angles to capture scenes, these small details always add a little spice to the mix, James has a great creative mind and always seems to be thinking outside the box, the things he can do with a small budget to make it seems bigger is a reason to watch his movies. Give Fortress a watch…” Action Reloaded
“Fortress doesn’t have real action choreography or professional visual effects, trying to do everything on a low budget. It’s predictable and low-energy all the way to its conclusion, which promises a sequel […] turning an already threadbare tale of money and revenge into a franchise. I’m genuinely curious to know where the production is headed next, as there’s seemingly nowhere to go with these characters…” Blu-ray.com
“Fortress might have too much talk for an action film. I wanted more action and less talk. We have about 45 really decent minutes of a movie trapped in a 90 or so minute runtime […] Look, Fortress is one of Bruce’s more polished films of the year. Even though it was wordy, I didn’t feel like taking a nap, and I stayed focused throughout the runtime.” Bulletproof Action
“Unlike a lot of Willis’ recent efforts, Fortress actually features the star a lot more than his typical cameo role. It’s not quite a full-time role for Willis, sitting somewhere between that and an extended cameo but its more than many Willis-watchers will have come to expect from the actor these days […] And, after seeing Fortress, I’m honestly all in on the rest of the series…” Nerdly
“Most of the heroics consist of what seems to be the facility’s only competent guard playing cat and mouse with the bad guys while everyone else holes up in a well-equipped and fortified bunker […] If you can get past the ludicrous lack of security and inept guards Fortress is a reasonably entertaining film that takes a few cues from Live Free or Die Hard.” Voices from the Balcony
Release date:
In the US, Fortress was released by Lionsgate theatrically in select locations and On-Demand on December 17th followed by Blu-Ray and DVD releases on December 21st 2021.
US trailer:
UK trailer:
Technical details:
1 hour 39 minutes
Notes:
Not to be confused with the 1992 Stuart Gordon film of the same name which stars Christopher Lambert, Loryn Locklin and Kurtwood Smith.
Related:
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