The Colony

I hadn't even read the synopsis for the movie before picking it up at the local secondhand DVD store. All I saw was what looked like an arctic disaster movie and one that had both Bill Paxton and Laurence Fishburne on the cast list.

Director Jeff Renfroe manages to start out with a rather impressive feat of establishing a very interesting setting and a fair story, along with some detailed characters. But that all changed to the worse and the movie fell into mediocrity once it was revealed what had happened to the inhabitants of the neighboring colony. I just didn't like that approach to the story one bit, it was just ludicrous.

I liked the arctic setting of the movie, and the visual effects department did manage to make it look realistic and that did a lot for the movie. Because if a movie like this had poor effects and CGI it would just collapse like a poorly constructed card house.

Kevin Zegers didn't really have what it took to deliver in this movie, and as such then he wasn't a strong main actor for the movie, which did slow down the movie a bit. He is usually an adequate actor, but didn't really pull it off in "The Colony". It was without a doubt Bill Paxton who were the one carrying the movie, despite having only a secondary role in the movie. Laurence Fishburne was there simply because he is Laurence Fishburne.

It was a shame that director Jeff Renfroe opted for that approach to the incident of the neighboring colony, because it was a severe crippling blow to the movie. "The Colony" had potential, but it was abruptly cut down by the direction in which the story went.

This movie piqued my interest because it reminded of movies such as The Thing and Dawn of the Dead, and of games such as The Swarm. I found the setting of the movie, an underground base effectively surviving underneath a frozen world, a good basis for a story. However, the plot itself does not explore the world and the background story.

When the movie started, I found myself thrown amid a bunch of clichés. The narrative simplistically explains how the apocalypse, in this case a frozen world, came about. The premise of the plot is that a team of three people from one base, in response to a distress signal, journey to help another base. This is where the help squad encounters its initial enemy, and the squad inevitably ends up luring the enemy back to its own base. Other clichés include a power struggle for leadership, and the movie trying to leave the backstory undeveloped to shroud the audience with a mysterious atmosphere. I found similarities between The Colony and Oblivion, including the narrative, the initial encounter with enemies, and the lack of answers. There are many other clichés that are scattered about the movie, including scenes on a decaying bridge, and scenes involving escape.

As for the special effects and the cinematography, I did not find them particularly special or bad. The whole movie reminded me a bit of The Dawn of the Dead and The Thing, both of which are better than this movie. It did not make up for the lackluster plot with its visuals, and it did not make me feel anything.

If you have seen The Dawn of the Dead, The Thing, or anything similar, you have already pretty much seen this movie. The Colony is only worth watching on Netflix.

When I first heard about this film I thought it was going to be like "It" (80's version, of course)or even "30 days of night". I love apocalyptic movies mixed with frozen world and eventually with monsters. Unfortunately, "The collony" turned to be another inconsistent and time- wasting entertainment movie. Yes, I'm talking about usual empty characters, boring plot and of course a good looking hero unable to express anything. A bit of action at the beginning but after knowing the villains you realize nothing good will come. Hollywood guys, please, you have huge resources, spend some more bucks on the script and on the casting and save on fx, anybody can create explosions on the computer but doing a good film is beyond that.

First off, since IMDb doesn't allow half-ratings and the current IMDb average is way below what the movie's truly worth, I decided to up my rating to an 8. I've been giving thought as to whether I should settle on a 7, but knowing that The Colony was a B-movie, I generously gave it an 8.

This movie is surprisingly done well. I have a personal liking for post-apocalyptic settings, and this one hits the nail on the spot, for what they chose. As the plot states, a small colony of survivors attempt to survive an ice age, and some unforeseen circumstances occur.

There isn't much I can say about the movie, apart from the fact that I felt that it was definitely worth the time to watch. It's a really solid movie, and you won't regret watching it. The acting was fine, there were no outrageous moments, and there were no issues with the other details in the movie, such as the CG (which was done pretty good).

The pacing of the movie is relatively nice, and the movie finishes just right. The movie wasn't stretched out, nor cut short. Any post-apocalyptic movie can easily be over- or underdone (trying to cram in too many subplots in a small timeframe, or not putting in enough to take full availability of the setting), but this one has just enough.

There's not much else I can say without spoiling the movie, so I'll just say that if you like post-apocalyptic movies, you're sure to have a kick out of watching this one.

While I do believe the story line here had tremendous potential, hence the reason I went to see 'The Colony' in the first place, the whole experience truly was a let down. The plot line was far too predictable and reminiscent of '30 Days of Night' which was a far superior cinematic experience for the genre.

'The Colony' left many unanswered questions from beginning to end, like how the climate truly turned so cold based on man-made weather stations to the point in the movie where it seemed this effect was being reversed. By the end of the film I hoped we'd get some answers on that score but that was left hanging.

And of course what led to the entire break down of civilization as a whole which is the underlying story of this movie beyond the clichéd explanation that people will do almost anything under great stress doesn't go far enough.

I think in the end I was looking for a more intelligent film which is what actors like Laurence Fishburne and Bill Paxton have brought to projects in the past, I'm a little surprised they agreed to do this film on the script alone.

4 Stars