Wow, another good post-apocalyptic movie, is this possible? Well, no, not entirely. The Colony is a lower middle-class science fiction movie with Laurence Fishburne and Bill Paxton and a relatively good story. What does a relatively good story mean? The premise was great with humanity seeking shelter from the endless winter in bunkers deep underground. And right away you get a beautiful and immersive escapism atmosphere. The opening ten minutes were also visually impactful as they crammed a lot of sleek CGI into this segment.
The Colony starts like any good post-apocalyptic movie but then it clumsily veers off into the horror genre. I feel this would be a much better movie if they stuck to the basics. If you’ve seen Ghosts of Mars and Screamers, you’ll be in familiar territory. Still, I can see why they wanted to introduce the horror element as the setting was screaming for it. Tight corridors, paranoia, and claustrophobia kicking in simultaneously with fear, make for one hell of an atmosphere. I don’t want to reveal too much of the story as I want you to have the same experience as I did.
The Colony is actually the first movie to take advantage of the now-decommissioned NORAD army base in Ontario, Canada. This means that the locations will be visiting look imposing and realistic. It punches way above its weight offering excellent worldbuilding and immersive atmosphere. The characters were okay, a bit stereotypical but still okay. Also, The Colony has some of the lamest bad guys ever. There was so much potential regarding not only their backstory but also their physical appearance. However, what’s done is done. Game over, man, game over, to quote someone from the cast of this movie.
While global warming may not be real, climate change certainly is. Seeing the gloomy future, humans have tried to control it, launching weather control machines into the sky. However, in the year of our lord Hudson 2045, the machines no longer work and endless winter is slowly taking over the world. The survivors have sought refuge in huge underground bunkers turned into cities called Colonies. There, they might be safe from the harsh weather conditions but not other dangers lurking in the dark.
Using almost every cliché possible, The Colony is a movie that offers nothing new but still provides us with enough content to watch it. Especially if you’re a science fiction or a post-apocalyptic fan. The characters had potential, and they were quite nicely developed but after the decision to introduce the horror element, they were sacrificed. I guess people need to watch more Star Trek. All the “features” such as a dystopian future, climate change, and growing plants underground are all nice but what should be the base of a movie is the moral dilemma and reasoning.
Finally, I don’t want you to think that we will spend a lot of time in the bunkers. The story also takes us to the snow-covered post-apocalyptic wasteland. Those scenes were fucking phenomenal and I wouldn’t mind if the entire movie was just them trying to get to some place like in The Road.
Director: Jeff Renfroe
Writer: Jeff Renfroe, Svet Rouskov, Patrick Tarr, Pascal Trottier
Cast: Laurence Fishburne, Kevin Zegers, Bill Paxton, Charlotte Sullivan, John Tench, Atticus Dean Mitchell
Fun Facts: The budget for the movie was $11 million.
Rating:
IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1160996/
