Fortress 2 |
  • Luxembourg / USA • 2000 • 92m •    • Directed by: Geoff Murphy. • Starring: Christopher Lambert, Aidan Ostrogovich, David Roberson, Liz May Brice, Beth Toussaint, Willie Garson, Paul de Bourcy, Bruce MacEwen, Stephen Shivers, Marius Speller, Mereta Mita, Patrick Malahide, Thea Slikboer. • Music by: Christopher Franke.      7 years on from the original Fortress movie, Brennick and his family are still on the run from the Men-tel corporation. Finally, they give in, and surrender, only to find themselves imprisoned in a new, more sophisticated fortress prison in outer space. But Brennick's not a man to give in easily, and with a 10 year old son waiting for him back on earth, he's going to pack some serious assault on the evil corporation...
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Also known under the title Fortress 2: Re-Entry this Americam Luxembourg co-production was directed by Geoff Murphy & was the sequel to the surprise sci-fi action thriller success Fortress (1993) with Christopher Lambert which did quite well on video & was a pretty good film too, unfortunately Fortress 2 isn't a good film & I have no hesitation in describing it as total crap. The whole gimmick of Fortress2 being set in outer space doesn't add up to much & the scientific physics don't really convince, for instance space shuttles dock within what seems like seconds & a totally ridiculous scene in which Lambert is blasted into outer space without a spacesuit or anything & manages to 'swim' his way across to another door & survive by simply holding his breath! There'a also an unintentionally hilarious part when they fix a security camera to a Cockroach & the Govenor steps on it & Lambert goes up to the inmate who was keeping the Cockroach as a pet, puts his arm around his shoulder & ruefully says in all seriousness 'it was for a good cause'. The pace is alright & the film moves along but the story is pretty much the same as the original with Lambert trying to escape from a seemingly inescapable prison that has a slightly demented Govenor, a female computer & some sadistic prison guard's. Been there, seen it all before & brought the T-shirt.
The special effects are a mixed bag, some of the CGI computer effects are alright while others are awful. The sets look cheap & the film has an ugly look about it. The action scenes are very flat & unimpressive, they have no pace or excitement & apart from one or two half decent punch ups Fortress just doesn't deliver on the action from & since the sci-fi aspect looks so cheap & have no regard to accuracy that the whole film just doesn't work or satisfy.
With a supposed budget of about $12,000,000 I can't really see where the money went if that figure is true, filmed in Luxembourg the production values look cheap. The acting isn't anything to write home about, Lambert looks like he is just going through the motions, Patrick Malahide is awful as the main villain while veteran actress Pam Grier looks embarrassed to be here which is understandable.
Fortress 2 is a terrible sequel to a pretty decent sci-fi action thriller that didn't deserve a sequel as bad as this but got one anyway, what can I say this poor both conceptually & technically.
Review by poolandrews from the Internet Movie Database.
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