Fortress (2021)

Directed by: James Cullen Bressack | 100 minutes | action, thriller | Actors: Jesse Metcalfe, Bruce Willis, Chad Michael Murray, Kelly Greyson, Ser’Darius Blain, Katalina Viteri, Shannen Doherty, Lauren McCord, Michael Sirow, Sean Kanan, Daniel Salinas González, Natalie Burn, Luillo Ruiz, Trae Ireland, Simon Phillips , Peter Cordova, Casper Smart, Canyon Prince

‘Fortress’ is about Forge Mountain, a community for retirees, who can relax and unwind from their demanding careers. A little yoga, reading books, playing chess, you know it. Successful businessman Paul (Jesse Metcalfe), owner and founder of a company doing something groundbreaking with cryptocurrencies, is on his way to visit his father, who lives there. They haven’t seen each other for years. Upon arrival, to Paul’s surprise, the complex appears to be heavily secured. Paul is picked up by Kate (Kelly Greyson), the director of the retired holiday camp. The reunion between father and son feels difficult from the start, there is a lot of old pain. Paul feels that his father always chose his job over him and that he left him to his own devices when his mother was dying; Robert (Bruce Willis) soon realizes that his financial problems are the only reason he visits him. Just before the misery breaks out – more about that below – Robert makes an attempt to make a rapprochement.

Meanwhile, we see a team of violent hitmen attempt to penetrate Forge Mountain. Because security apparently consists mainly of the fact that the location is secret and there are guards at the entrance to keep out unwanted visitors, it doesn’t take long before the air raid siren sounds over the complex. The shocked Paul looks extremely bewildered when Robert takes out a firearm with a silencer and indicates to Kate that his father never knows how to deal with it. But the truth, of course, is different: Robert – like the other retirees – is a former CIA agent, who moved here for his safety. The trio soon find their way to the fortress from the title. In this underground bunker, led by chief of security Dobbs (Shannen Doherty), a bloody battle erupts.

The team of hitmen is led by white-collar criminal Balzary (Chad Michael Murray), who was once extorted from Robert 600 million dollars. He’s been looking for revenge all these years and crypto coin entrepreneur Paul’s visit to his father couldn’t be better timed. The rest of the film can be guessed, although the film consists for a greater part of boring dialogues than actual action. You can see that this was decided for budgetary reasons, but otherwise filmmaker James Cullen Bressack (with whom Willis previously made ‘Survive the Game’) makes good use of the available resources. The cast is adequate enough, although not much is expected of them. Bruce Willis’ role is more than a cameo, he actually gets something to do, although his performance here again feels uninspired. The setting is quite nice, with a nice river where the final takes place. Actor Michael Sirow, an overzealous security guard, provides a bit of comic relief. ‘Fortress’ is not a high flyer, but just interesting enough for action film fans to check out. And if you like this one, you can already look forward to part 2 (‘Fortress: Sniper’s Eye’) and the yet to be filmed ‘Fortress 3’.