On the one hand, we have Injo (Hae-il Park), king of Josean (modern-day Korea), holed up in a mountain fortress under siege by the forces of the Qing Empire (China). Somewhere in the middle, possibly a traitor, maybe a patriot, certainly a pragmatist, is Choi (Korean superstar Byung-hun Lee). Peace would spare the lives of countless soldiers and citizens, already facing starvation as the winter siege continues. But war spells exciting computer-generated mayhem, even if director Dong-hyuk Hwang isn’t exactly known for that in previous light fare like Miss Granny. At more than two and a quarter hours, the subtitled Fortress is a little long, but still succeeds as a thinking person’s war movie.

Source: National Post October 18, 2017 19:41 UTC