Fuji reviews The Colony

[Fuji Vice]

The Colony


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The desperate survivors of a new Ice Age contend with sickness and infighting while attempting to contact the inhabitants of another outpost that's gone mysteriously silent. Determined to find out exactly what happened to this outpost, their leader, Briggs, assembles a team and ventures out to investigate. What they find is a force more powerful than nature itself, and more savage as well. Now the remnants of the search team must make a desperate return to their own colony, before this evil consumes it as well.

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The Colony, released in 2013, is a sometimes smart, often times bizarre but never un-entertaining film from Canada. While it doesn’t always know exactly what genre it wants to fall into (sci-fi, horror, adventure and disaster are just a few explored) it somehow manages to transcend them all and simply become a solid popcorn flick. Shot on a relatively low budget on location in the frigid north Canadian wasteland of North Bay (alright, it’s not REALLY a wasteland but it sounds cool right?) the film also manages to prove that the typical Hollywood blockbuster can be cleverly mimicked at a much lower cost. Whether that leads to more opportunities for Canadian filmmakers in the future remains to be seen, but if The Colony is any indication of what they’re capable of, I’d say that future is very bright indeed. Soon to be released in the US, I’d say any horror/sci-fi fan will have a great time with The Colony; clearly that was the intention of the filmmakers all along.

"Not the rabbit hole you want to be going down."
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Written and directed by Jeff Renfroe (along with co-writers Svet Rouskov, Patrick Tarr and Pascal Trottier), the film is pretty much one non-stop adrenaline rush with barely any time for plot exposition. This would be a problem if it was attempting to be a straight-up disaster or adventure film and I was admittedly concerned for a time that it was falling short of the proper degree of storytelling. However, as the film progresses, it’s easy to see why there was no need for that exposition, it’s really just meant to blow your face off and in that it succeeds admirably most of the time. I really don’t understand why it took FOUR people to write what essentially boils down to a bad video game script, but it did so I commend them on all tricking the producers into getting paychecks! Meanwhile, Renfroe’s direction is pretty solid and he doesn’t bother with methodical pacing. Rather he goes right for the jugular, much like the evil villains of the picture, and the results are most often awesome and will surely be loved by the PS3 generation.

"I'm...dreaming...of an all you can eat buffet."
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As the film was a low-budget Canadian production, the producers realized the importance of casting some “name†actors in order to lend it a little bit of legitimacy. They managed to procure the services of both Laurence “Morpheus†Fishburne and Bill “Game Over†Paxton. Fishburne plays Briggs, the defacto leader of the main colony featured in the film, while Paxton plays his opposite number and strongest critic, Mason. While these two don’t get a whole lot of time together, they do show some good chemistry and their scenes are among the strongest in the film. Of course both end up in very predictable situations through the course of the film, but it doesn’t diminish their positive contributions to the film. If you’re wondering why I’m harping on about Fishburne and Paxton the simple fact is that I really wasn’t impressed by anyone else in the film save for Charlotte Sullivan, and that’s only because she’s pretty damn hot. The rest of the cast is just sort of there, and although they didn’t suck enough to deserve special places in hell, they certainly didn’t do enough to merit more than a passing mention.

"Erm...!!!"
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While The Colony is not without its fair share of problems, particularly its meandering and absurd screenplay, it shoves enough action down your throat to pummel your critiques into oblivion. This may be one of the only films I’ve ever seen that actually manages to do that successfully, as I was never bored and never found myself questioning the total insanity on display! There were actually times when I found myself getting really excited by what was about to happen next, even though I knew full well what it was going to be. Sure it’s not really a great movie and it definitely has flaws, but it certainly knows how to distract you from seeing them and in the end, that’s all that really matters. I actually wouldn’t mind seeing a prequel to this film, showing the onset of the ice age and the story behind Briggs and Mason’s decision to start this particular colony. That can only be a good thing as my interest is piqued enough to be ready for another chapter, something I cannot say for a lot of films I have seen in recent memory. If you get the chance, check out The Colony for something different, something similar, something weird but above all else, something really fun. After all, don’t you want just a little more fun in your lives? 6/10.

"Coming up tomorrow, we kick off October with the worst....gift....ever."
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[Wangman Page]

Another good review Fuji. This reminds me of another film.but I can't quite place a finger on it. I will have to check this one out too.

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[Fuji Vice]

Another good review Fuji. This reminds me of another film.but I can't quite place a finger on it. I will have to check this one out too.

I had the same feeling of it reminding me of another film but I couldn't place it while I was watching. I think its probably more that since the genres are all over the place, its reminiscent of lots of movies. I wouldn't go out of my way to see it in theatres when it comes out in the US, but a rental or DL is definitely worth it.

 

[Mitch Buchannon]

Great review need to check this out. I appreciate the fact that Zegers broke out of that family movie child star phase unlike so many others.