Movie: Cold Storage

This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.

Hot Zone

Plot Overview

Skylab deorbited in 1979, most of it breaking up in the atmos­phere, some of it splashing down in the Indian Ocean, and one tank landing in a redneck's back yard. His ad hoc museum (“$1 admission”) failed to contain a mutating alien fungus (“It's hetero­trophic”), so the Army's Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) sanitized the ground, and Army vehicles moved a sample to a secure storage facility in Raleigh, NC. After the passage of time, the base was decom­mis­sioned and this asset sold with the rest to a civilian storage company. The hot object was secured inside a special storage unit and monitored remotely, per what author John Sandford describes as “the tall poppy syndrome.”

[T]he tall poppy syndrome refers to the idea that the tall poppies in a field will get their tops cut off to make every­thing neat and equal. … You can't show it. (285)

After the ravages of time a thermistor alarm audibly activates inside a walled off compartment alerting two security personnel Travis “Tea­cake” Meacham (Joe Keery) and Naomi Williams (Georgina Campbell.) After some deliberation—he's “loquacious”—they break through a wall to discover a breach in a containment vessel. The mutating fungus causes animals and soon humans to act like rabid beasts explosively spreading around their infection. The boss Griffin (Gavin Spokes) shows up (“He's a pig”) to investigate, and a biker gang to move stolen goods, and a granny client armed to defend her­self. A phone call is made to an old number activating a couple aged agents Robert Quinn (Liam Neeson) and Trini Romano (Lesley Manville.)

They've come up against this giant threat before and are necessarily ruthless.

Ideology

The military action lends itself to comparison with one of Kenny Rogers's songs concerning a chance encounter with “The Gambler” on a train bound for nowhere. He offered his fellow passenger the advice that “the secret to surviving is knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep.” The refrain of the song goes:

You've got to know when to hold 'em, Know when to fold 'em, Know when to walk away, Know when to run. You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table. There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.

This wisdom of the gambling man's repertoire is old as the hills and was passed on by a raconteur, Agur in Proverbs 30:1, whose four meta­phors offered the same life advice as did Rogers's Gambler. That we find in, (Prov. 30:29-31) “There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going: A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any; A greyhound; an he goat also; and a king, against whom there is no rising up.”

We have Agur's “lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any,” and we have Rogers's “know[ing] when to hold 'em.” In our movie they decide to nuke the evacuation area with “item seven” whose timer is erratic. Gutsy move.

We have Agur's “king, against whom there is no rising up,” and we have Rogers's “Know[ing] when to fold 'em.” A king who knows when to give in to his subjects doesn't experience any uprising. Mrs. Rudy surrenders her recently fired sidearm.

We have Agur's “he goat also” and we have Rogers's “Know[ing] when to walk away.” When a savvy switch­board operator is troubled by her clueless, nosey boss, she calmly leaves the room with her cell, out of his hearing, to take care of business.

We have Agur's “greyhound” and Rogers's “Know[ing] when to run.” When the timer is counting down a 5 kiloton nuclear explosion, they run for it.

The gambler gave the advice:

You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.

There's a cliff hanger at the very end.

Production Values

“” was directed by Jonny Campbell. It was written by David Koepp based on his own novel. It stars Georgina Campbell, Joe Keery and Liam Neeson. Campbell worrying about her little daughter at home and her grave­yard shift on the line brings a personal touch to this drama of a royal SNAFU. Keery weighing the choice between saving humanity and saving his parolee job adds an element of absurdity. And, of course, Neeson's deadpan delivery of what's cookin' exudes black humor.

MPA rated it R for violent content, gore and language. The special effects would be more at home on a tele­vision screen. The creatures are high camp. The containment suits looked real, though. The ground giving way at an under­ground nuclear blast was one helluva pot­hole. Runtime is 99 minutes.

Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation

This one delivered the goods while not breaking any unneeded new ground. If it sounds like what you'd like, go for it.

Movie Ratings

Action factor: Well done action flick. Suitability For Children: Not Suitable for Children of Any Age. Special effects: Average special effects. Video Occasion: Better than watching TV. Suspense: Keeps you on the edge of your seat. Overall movie rating: Three and a half stars out of five.

Works Cited

Scripture is quoted from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software.

Rogers, Kenny. Songwriter Don Schlitz. “The Gambler.” Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Pub. LLC. Web.

Sandford, John. Ocean Prey. Copyright © 2021 by John Sandford. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2022. Print.

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