The Colony (2013)

Very little character development and minimal plot make this a pointless video. It's basically a horror film wrapped around a doomsday plot with a hint of zombies. If you have nothing else to do and you have a free copy of the video then go find a book to read. Just terrible.

THE COLONY is a mid-budget Canadian post-apocalypse action movie about survivors struggling to make it in a world that has entered a new Ice Age. There are shades of THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW in the scenes of characters trekking through an Arctic tundra in search of fellow man, but overall this turns out to be a straight rip-off of THE THING mixed with bits from ALIENS.The opening of the film sees survivors huddling in a freezing base and dying off thanks to a deadly flu (a sub-plot that turns out to be rather extraneous). When they lose contact with a fellow colony, a trio of men decide to make a trip to find out what's happened, only to run afoul of a mortal enemy. The film features a good role for Laurence Fishburne, who gets to play a likable character for a chance, and a chance for Kevin Zegers, of FROZEN fame, to shine as the youthful lead. Bill Paxton also appears but is somewhat underutilised until the climax.THE COLONY features endless CGI landscapes and the like, which didn't impress me too much, and average direction. I was disappointed that the villains turn out to be simple cannibal types who aren't very scary at all, and the chief villain is almost identical to an incidental bad guy in GAME OF THRONES. Still, the film does boast a fast pace and plenty of action, so it's an easy enough watch.

The Colony could have flourished with good visual and cast, but it squanders the potential before it enters the second act. The main issue is how stagnant and predictable the plot progresses, screenplay it uses is the very generic template for sci-fi genre. It barely possesses any unique qualities, and by the time the movie is over, it will be either forgettable or interchangeable with any mediocre films.Story follows the survivors on Colony 7, led by Briggs (Laurence Fishburne). They have been plagued with the dangerous common cold, in which everyone who even shows symptoms are quarantined, possibly exiled or even killed. They also receive strange message from Colony 5, their neighbor colony and must go to examine whether it's real or not. The overall concept holds some promise, but there are far too many boring narratives and stupid behaviors from the characters to fully realize its prospect.Script is highly foreseeable, down to the sob stories of the survivors, which to the film's credit, would be salvageable if it actually portrays them instead of having guys talk about it. Characters also perform a few needless monologues that don't help setting the tension, they merely drag the movie by a few minutes. Furthermore, many of the characters' decision are moronic, the film tries to convince audience with stress or fear excuse, and even if that's true, it's still stupid by any stretch. This is the equivalent of seeing someone decide to split up in horror flick.Visual is pretty exceptional, it has good sharp contour and vibrant color. However, most of it are used in ordinary hallway full of pipes or barren wastelands, the most notably landmark is broken bridge which could very well be featured in half dozen other sci-fi films. The actors aren't that bad either, it's just the material is too thin and lacking any suspense for them to capitalize on.The Colony might have bits that could've worked, but with too predictable execution and uninspiring plot, a visit isn't exactly recommended.

I really liked the idea of this movie and it started out pretty good but quickly went downhill. There were a few decent parts, and you will like this movie if you are into the lame slasher kinda zombie movies but it just wasn't for me. I do not like the intense action, shaking camera, followed by over used tag lines. "Come and get it!" Pretty poor acting especially by Laurence Fishburne. Not very believable and way to much suspense building up to what is already expected. Dramatic over used score that we have all heard a thousand times before in every other slasher/zombie movie. Some of the action shots and effects were so bad it was embarrassing. Punches that weren't any where close to the intended target. Axe hits with no force behind them at all.