6/12 ForReel Score | 2.5/5 Stars

The winter is a strange time for film. Every year films get released and they tend to fall into one of three categories: bad movies the studios don't really care for you to see, great movies that the studios are gambling will do all the business in a slower time of year, and then the middle ground of perfectly serviceable winter action flicks. You're probably aware of those serviceable action flicks I’m referring to - they often star Jason Statham or Gerard Butler or Liam Neeson, and while most of them aren't great, very few of them are outright bad.

Cold Storage is very much in this third category. An science fiction action comedy in which a deadly alien fungus rages out of control in a self storage facility where an unsuspecting Georgina Campbell and Joe Keery work. The storage facility was previously a government base, and Liam Neeson shows up as the government agent tasked with containing the situation because he's the one who put the fungus there in cold storage in the first place.

The plot, such as it is, is a cross between The Thing and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but with a dash of humour. Director Jonny Campbell does everything he can with screenwriter David Koepp's screenplay, but unfortunately the film never manages to escape comparisons to better films. He does manage to find a few moments of humour, but that also means that, effectively, all of the moments that could be scary in this horror comedy are reduced to moments of gross out humour instead of scares. This, in and of itself wouldn't be a problem, however there aren't enough of those moments either.

There are two places where the movie shines and that is in some of the effects and the cast. There are some great makeup and costume effects, and a good mix of practical and digital effects when it comes to the fungus and the havoc it wreaks. Occasionally you get an animal so obviously CGI it's distracting, and yet other times you get a deer that is practically photo real.

Keery, Campbell, and Neeson are decent enough in their parts but they're also playing roles they could act in their sleep. Keery is a lovable, goodhearted fuckup (basically Steve Harrington but with a record) while Campbell is the too-smart-for-this-town woman who is stuck there because of a kid and a bad ex. Neeson plays a gruff, smart assed government type who has most of the funniest lines thanks to his ability to deadpan the ridiculous. Also notable is Lesley Manville who shows up as Neeson's equally irreverent, pragmatic partner who seems like she'd be a lovely grandmother if she didn't keep stashing nuclear bombs in her sons home.

This all lands Cold Storage is mixed bag territory. It falls into that category of weeknight movies: nothing else to do on a Wednesday? Throw this on and you can pass the time. Being reasonably approachable for an R-Rated (14a in Canada) film, it might also be a good gateway for a younger person who has snuck in to see Joe Keery in a post-Stranger Things role. Like so many other films released this time of year, this one is not great, but it's also too well intentioned and too well cast to be entirely discounted. Just be sure to see Cold Storage before the upcoming slate of new releases heats up.

Movie Review: "Cold Storage" Makes For A Decent Winter Off-Season Watch