La fortaleza 2

I think this one just had a better look & feel to it. I liked the atmosphere more than the first. I also would maybe watch this one again but I don't know about the first. It was too depressing. This one was fun. This director did what we wanted & didn't kill off all of the main characters. If Dday didn't die on the first I would have liked it more. It had too much of a mad max look to it which is a look I don't like. It's like a futuristic look but yet it's still dull looking. The second was just more fun to me. I just hate when directors will kill off my favorite characters one by one making it more & more depressing. I also really liked the whole space idea because I'm thinking to myself "how... is he going to get out".

I had no idea that a sequel was even being made to the 1993 movie until a few days ago. I arrived at the cinema complex where I work and was totally shocked to discover that a Fortress 2 had been released! The film was officially released in Australia on 2. March, 2000, but I'm afraid it hasn't been too popular...

We're only screening it in one small cinema and, so far, we've probably had about 200 patrons in four days (and that's being generous). Considering the fact that our largest cinema seats 500 for one session, this is not good popularity odds.

It was released suddenly, without advertisements or even posters. You could tell from the start that this was going to be an unfortunate, B-grade sequel to the enjoyable, well planned original.

Still, I thought I'd give it a go. I loved the first film and Christopher Lambert had returned to reprise his role, so I thought why not?

Unfortunately, I was quite disappointed. The script was very lame, with characters suddenly having the "convenient" skills to make an escape possible at just the right time. Not much planning went into set design. There were very little of the fancy, modern gadgets of the first movie, and you can tell they were cutting costs. Much of the film was computer generated to cover the missing pieces. As for the plot - it was far too unbelievable and, dare I say it, actually quite boring.

This time, the prison is in outer space (!), and instead of those little metal tracking devices used in the first Fortress, prisoners are given a "behaviour modifier" than is implanted in their brain. These ones definitely can't be removed.

It is a rehash of the first. Christopher makes some friends inside, and then they help him to escape. None of the characters other than Chris are very likeable, and I found myself not really caring if they survived or not. Chris seemed to just cruise through the film without much effort - what more could he do?

So Patrick Malahide is Teller, the prison governor. Okay. However, Patrick Malahide was also Chisholm in Minder, and I don't think the filmmakers realised just how off-putting that would be - you keep expecting a spluttering Arfur Daley to be hustled into his office instead of a stony-faced Chris Lambert. Well, I did, anyway.

Of course, that wouldn't be too likely as this new Fortress is in orbit 26,000 miles above Earth, which, when it's suddenly revealed (to the horror of the oblivious prisoners/"labourers"), feels like it should have been a key twist that you couldn't possibly have seen coming... bit of a shame that it's given away in the tagline on the front of the video, then.

Anyway, yeah, what everyone else said: it's Fortress 1, only not as good. The sets and effects are basically fine, some of the set pieces are pretty tense (if ridiculously set up), but the flimsy script, non-existent pacing, absence of worthwhile new ideas and charisma-free supporting cast all seem to have come from a film with one tenth of the budget - Pam Grier excepted, though she may as well not be in it at all considering the total irrelevance of her character.

And does everyone really have to talk so quietly? I know they're in prison, but Mr. Lambert always whispers everything anyway - and here so does Patrick Malahide, so get ready for a lot of scowling and rewinding if you want to follow the few halfhearted shreds of plot on offer.

Oh yeah, and that very last scene is, basically, the worst thing ever. It's not even as if The Laugh can save it, as Chris has already put The Laugh to much better effect about twenty minutes earlier...

"YOU are going to pardon ME? Heh heh heh."

He hasn't lost it.

A sequel to cult director Stuart Gordan's fun and campy film from 1993. This time Brennick is once again caught by the super-evil Men-Tel corporation and locked in a facility orbiting the Earth. Naturally he soon begins planning an escape.

Aside from the opening action scene which is OK the film starts to sink pretty fast. Relying too much on computer effects that are really sub-par - the first film cleverly used set design more than computer effects - and then there are some glaring plot devices that pretty much overshadow parts of the plot that are enjoyable. Cheesy computer effects are forgivable and can easily be looked on as a new-age camp, but the silliness of the plot of is poor script writing and that is almost impossible to forgive. You need a tight script for a good movie. Period.

Also, if you thought the end to first film was cheesy then you'll like this film even less because the ending is even ridiculous by fairy tale standards. --- 4/10

Rated R: violence and profanity

Well, lets be honest here, the first Fortress movie was nothing too special even though it was directed by Stuart Gordon and featured some excellent cheese filled moments. You may think that the craptacular enjoyment provided by the first movie would translate over to the lower budgeted, even more b sequel.

Sadly I was totally wrong with this assumption.

Things just happen in this movie... There's really no effort by the script or director to give us any characterization. We're stuck with " Brennick is in prison, now he must bust out " as soon as the movie starts.

There's plot holes galore, stupid scenes, and some terrible special FX.

Lambert must have been really hungry for the fifty or so grand he was paid to do this train wreck.

I'm a fan of cheeseball, low budget films... But they have to at least be entertaining in some form or another to be enjoyable to me. There are a few moments like that found in this film, but unless you want to see how NOT to make a movie, don't bother with this one.

1 out of 5.