The Colony – Surprisingly watchable B-movie

If this film was released in the cinema, you may come away regretting paying for having to sit through that.  But it wasn't.  It was released straight to DVD.  And, among the other offerings that find their way into `bargain bins' up and down the country, this one actually stands out – at least a little bit.

Basically, the world has suffered another ice age and the few survivors are left to fend from themselves in their `colonies.' The first thing that makes this movie nice is the setting.  Yes, snow is pretty bleak and uninspirational, but it works well here and adds to the feel.  Plus you have Lawrence Fishburne and Bill Paxton, who both turn in fine performances.  Fishburne is definitely the lead and, if nothing else ‘The Colony’ is an example of how he can carry a film on his own.  I’ve always been a fan of Bill Paxton (like so many, since ‘Aliens,’ but then the set for the colony itself looks  like it's been inspired by 'Hadley's Hope' from 'Aliens') and I would have liked to see him in the film a bit more.  Sadly, his role was quite small compared to how he’s promoted on all marketing material surrounding this film.

The story is slower in the first half and then changes pace when the action kicks off, so be prepared for that.  However, I thought that the film probably should have been called ‘The OTHER Colony!’  It begins with the colony where all our protagonists are, but it doesn’t take long before a trio of cast-members decide to leave here to go and investigate another colony that they’ve lost contact with.  Therefore, all the characters we’ve been introduced to are cast aside for what is basically the middle of the film when the action starts.  It's also a bit of a mish-mash of other movies (you can play `spot the movie rip-off' a fair few times - I noticed bits borrowed from ‘Day of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead’ (2004) and ‘28 Days Later’), but you have to remember that it is just a B-movie.

Our heroes soon find themselves coming face to face with a load of expendable bad guys who like to eat people rather than save their own species.  The ‘lead’ bad guy does tend to simply roar a lot rather than offer any real ‘motivation’ for his slide in humanity, hence why I saw this film as a weird ‘zombie-like’ story (just with cannibals instead of the undead).

It may be that `The Colony' is one of those movies that has a concept which actually exceeds its capabilities.  Normally, when I watch a movie, I tend to want to cut out about half an hour of pointless bits from the middle.  However, here's a film that I thought should have been longer.  There are quite a few plot threads which could have been expanded on.  However, because of the short running time (probably due to budget constraints), the film does feel a little rushed.

If you accept it for what it is - a B-movie - then you should enjoy it.  It wouldn't stand up against Hollywood's big budget action movies, but it's not a bad way to spend an hour and a half of your time.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that