Sometimes the old ways are the best…

Cold Storage manages to channel some old school B Movie energy while still allowing itself some moments of relevancy as it gives the occasional self-referential ‘wink and a nod’ to the camera.

A highly infectious, constantly mutating microorganism—capable of extinction level destruction—finds a way to escape from a former military facility-turned self-storage space. Now the fate of humanity rests on a retired bioterror operative and two unlikely heroes working the nightshift at the storage company— caught in a race against time to destroy the organism and save mankind.

Cold Storage tries to have its cake and eat it too as it pays homage to the classics of the sci-fi, body horror genre and gives it all real stakes while still wanting to be able to have a laugh at itself like it did in the 1950’s.  Imagine if Edgar Wright had made World War Z but on an indie budget….and you’ve got Cold Storage.

The strength of the piece is in the script from writer David Koepp who wrote the book and has a myriad of experience working with the likes of Michael Crichton, Steven Spielberg and several others so it all has a real flow to it even though it’s stronger in segments then it is as a whole.  It feels like a couple of really good ideas mashed into one script, it’s hardly bad and it doesn’t all live up to the aspirations it has but some of the visuals Easter eggs along the way allow for genre fans to crack a genuine smile as the story unfolds.

Director Jonny Campbell is a solid hand behind the screen and actually keeps it all moving at a solid clip even when things try to slide off the rails.  Combined with the two strong leads this one would have been hard to screw up.

Star Joe Keery is effectively leaning on the equity he built for himself off his run on Stranger Things is affable enough here and his chemistry with co-star Georgina Campbell is palpable as she ultimately does more of the character work here driving the story where it needs to go.  As a somewhat comedic action hero duo, they’re better then you’d expect especially as Campbell really feels like she’s got the potential to carry a film in whatever genre lands in her lap.

Liam Neeson is always up for a little bit of fun in a genre romp like this and you can tell he’s leaning into the material and allowing himself to be the straight man of it all who can quietly chew the scenery when things get a little goofy.  On top of all that I’ll admit that it was pretty fun to not only see Vanessa Redgrave and Lesley Manville show up in this one to fight invading contagion while cracking wise and occasionally kicking some ass.

It ain’t high art by any stretch, but Cold Storage manages to be a solid B movie type diversion for anyone looking to kick up their feet and turn their brain off to go on an unlikely mission to save mankind.