Saturday Movies: The Colony (2013)

You probably haven't heard of or was ready for a movie that featured Laurence Fisburne, Bill Paxton, Kevin Zegers. It's out there though. I always wondered what happened to Kevin Zegers from my teen bop magazines? Anyways, this movie really tries to ride off the popularity right now of doomsday stories.  This movie probably isn't as bad as everyone is telling you it is if they have mentioned it. It's got an entertaining story, but the characters fall into stereotypes that aren't very complex. When you lack in characters in these sorts of movies that you care about it can sort of ruin the whole vibe.

Summary: Coldness has wiped out most of the population leaving a few surviving colonies governed by their own forces to survive. The colonist in one area are already raging war on what is a spreading illness wiping out the survivors, and they decided to head to the nearest colony to see what is happening there. Once arriving though they find even a worse terror that could be a bigger threat than what is already happening.


Acting: The acting is really bad, but more so the actors are given characters you can't really work with. Laurence Fisbourne is Briggs, who seems to be essentially the leader of a colony, but he is noble and he is trying to do the right thing, and just doesn't seem too different than what we are acquainted with. Then there is Bill Paxton as Mason who is the guy trying to cause a bit of turmoil by carrying the colony in a different path because he doesn't agree with what the current leader is doing. Then there is Kevin Zegers and what is the point of his character? Who knows.Sam seems to be trying to add some youth to the cast and a little romance with Kai portrayed by Charlotte Sullivan, but it doesn't fit.

Filming: Jeff Renfroe does decently with the low budget he had for this type of movie as far as appearance. It still though tries to blend one contrast and one appearance so it isn't obvious it's all fake, but it's okay. What is weak is the writing. When a viewer goes into this type of story they just expect a lot more as far as characters and the impending doom vibe with the end of the world.  There is just nothing quite memorable going on with this one.

Plot:  The plot is there, but very skim. The plot tries to focus too much on making it an end of the world dramatic story instead of making what makes many movies in this genre appealing, characters. I think for a viewer to get into this type of movie they have to relate to the characters to imagine themselves in this scenario, and that doesn't happen. The characters just don't resonate beyond their development on screen to get you involved with the action happening on screen. You get a decent story that makes some twist and developments there but it's nothing new.

The Colony ends up trying to puncture a way into a genre that is very crowded right now. It doesn't provided anything new, and to be honest it feels like someone watched The Walking Dead and then tried to copy the characters from the show. If anything it's a movie to watch while the DVD releases are in a slow season.

Rating 5 of 10.