Whiteout Reviews

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Kate Beckinsale, I thought I should give it a try. Eventually, after watching this, I wonder if the original comic-book it was based on it was actually any good because this adaptation was seriously underwhelming. Basically, it resembles a really average CSI episode, or any similar cop show, and the only thing which was intriguing was the fact that it was taking place in Antarctica. I mean, right from the first scene with Beckinsale, they managed to have her taking off all her clothes and even though she is still in shape and still look stunning, you wonder what this scene was supposed to add to the whole plot. So, it was a rather boring story and Antarctica with its impressive landscape and harsh conditions of life, meaning that you could easily die within a few minutes if you are not careful enough, was the only point of interest. I mean, none of the characters were developed and even Beckinsale's background was rather pathetic. To conclude, if they kept the setting, threw away the whole plot and rewritten all the characters, it could have been a decent movie but the story they gave us was pretty boring and I don't think it is really worth a look.

I adored Kate Beckinsale she did a great job in this movie but, her performance sadly wasn't enough to save this movie. The ending was horrible and you probably could have seen the plot twist a mile away. Another thing this movie suffered from was its awful pacing and a lack of suspense. Not once was I at the edge of my seat, curious to find out what would happen next, I was unfortunately laying on my couch yawning and forcing myself to stay awake. The special effects were kind of nice but, sadly the story wasn't, it was pretty bad. Overall a boring thriller with horrible pacing that lacks suspense, surprise, and a well developed story. Even with a great performance from Kate Beckinsale and some nice special effects it just wasn't enough to save this movie.

All in all not a bad movie, ok to see once

"I never meant for anyone to get hurt, but Haden got greedy."

Adapted from the graphic novel of the same name, Whiteout is a formulaic, sloppily-constructed thriller almost entirely devoid of excitement and thrills. The plot from the book is not altered considerably for the movie, but Whiteout has been crafted with such lifeless banality that it's almost impossible to become genuinely invested in the central murder mystery. This is strictly paint-by-numbers stuff, with an uninteresting story giving way to twists and turns sign-posted long in advance, and action as dull as dishwater. It's no surprise to learn that the project sat on the shelf for two years awaiting a cinematic release (filming wrapped in mid-2007), yet the studio should have instead done the honourable thing and buried all prints of the movie deep in the ice of Antarctica.

The plot of Whiteout could be accurately described as a combination of Cliffhanger, D-Tox and John Carpenter's The Thing, except not as awesome as that would imply. U.S. Marshal Carrie Stetko (Beckinsale) is the sole law enforcement official at a research station in Antarctica. For the past two years, she has maintained order at the facility, and now her tour of duty is almost over. A few days before Carrie is scheduled to return to the States, a corpse is discovered on the ice not far from the facility. Of course, she chooses to stay and investigate, presumably because she's a dedicated cop, or maybe it's because this is the first murder in the continent's history, or, more likely, it's because she knows what's good for the movie.

In spite of the potentially intriguing premise and a visually arresting setting, Whiteout is a boring, factory-made whodunit which is quickly snowed under by stupidity, genre clichés, stale writing, and limp direction. Everyone involved was clearly working on autopilot, and the film feels like a tired television cop show story made noteworthy because of its setting. Every red herring and twist is familiar, and even flashbacks pop up routinely to clarify the most trivial of details. Heck, Carrie is even introduced in a gratuitous strip-and-shower sequence in which she's reduced to a mere fetishised object. And there isn't even proper nudity, which is especially disappointing considering that director Dominic Sena's last movie - Swordfish - is renowned for featuring a shot of Halle Berry's bare breasts. Also of interest is that Whiteout could have easily been a silent movie. There is dialogue of course, but most of it barely qualifies as anything but noise as characters always say the most obvious things. For instance, if someone walks inside an airplane, they say "It's an airplane". If there's a corpse on the ground with a hole in its head, the first words out of anyone's mouth will be something like "That guy has a hole in his head."

Production values are also notably poor - the score is all booms and crashes to wake up the audience every few minutes, the cinematography makes Antarctica look like a surprisingly dull place, and the production design perpetually screams either green screen or enclosed set. The digital effects are a disappointing mixed bag, with somewhat convincing storm effects undercut by the repetitive, dull foot chases they're used for. Sadly, the film is further marred by director Sena's inability to construct a decent, or even a coherent action sequence. Sure, the title of the film refers to extreme weather conditions that are supposed to disorientate the unlucky ones who are caught within it, but this is no excuse for how poorly shot and edited several of the outdoor struggles are. With everyone dressed alike in bulky snow gear moving at a snail's pace, constantly strapping hooks onto safety lines, these types of action scenes are not in the least bit interesting. A set-piece like this could work if the director was talented, but Sena is not.

All the actors look weary as they go through the motions. Kate Beckinsale does whatever she can with the material, but there's never a moment where the actress seems genuinely immersed in the material. Gabriel Macht follows up his dreadful turn in The Spirit with an even less successful performance here; delivering his lines with a dire lack of enthusiasm. Tom Skerritt is generically warm and friendly as the base doctor, but at least he knew how to make the most of his stock character. Meanwhile Columbus Short barely registers as the helpful Delfy, and Alex O'Loughlin is worryingly endearing as the Australian who's been plonked into the proceedings.

Whiteout is pure amateur hour, resembling a motion picture stitched together by a group of folks unaware of how moviemaking works. If you're familiar with John Carpenter's The Thing, the visual style for Whiteout will also be familiar to you. And if you've seen such TV shows as Bones and CSI, you'll be familiar with the crime-detecting style of this film. Simply put, Whiteout is merely a CSI: Antarctica episode which spends more time justifying the motions than actually enjoying the ride. The best thing that can be said about the film is that it's moderately painless. The whole affair comes across as just a made-for-TV movie, yet that's not saying a lot considering the time and expense involved.

2.8/10

Carrie Stetko is a Us Marshall working in Antarctica. Winter is fast approaching and they need to start getting people out of there. But just as things begin to shut down for the winter a body is found, leading Carrie on the first murder investigation in Antarctica’s history. She has help from Robert Pryce (Macht) and Delfy (Short) as she rushes to solve the mystery so that she won’t be stranded on the continent with the killer.

Kate Beckinsale is a good actress. She has taken on Underworld, and appeared in films such as Winged Creatures(Fragments) and The Aviator. Yet in this film she takes on an average starring role and doesn’t really do much with it. Here I was expecting Kate to become the next big leading lady and based upon this performance I just don’t see that happening. She can lead action adventure movies because there is something to bail out her acting. I like Kate, I liked her in supporting roles. I was hoping to like this film and enjoy her performance but that just didn’t happen. I do think with an exceptional script and perhaps a better director Kate can become a starring actress in any film she chooses. I just don’t think that is going to happen right now. She was some work to do, and if she wants to prove herself, she should take on more action less dramas, and work herself into dramatic roles. Just some friendly advice, because I want to see her do well.

As far as the story, it didn’t play out the way I hoped, it become a drag and a mess of facts. The characters took too long to figure it out; they couldn’t seem to add 2 and 2 together to get 4. It was mindless, and the killings were just way over the top. It was a character plot, with random brutal murders. I don’t see that too much. It was painful to watch the parading around of a killer on a remote landscape. Just constantly search the grounds and you would have had him. It does not seem that tough of a task. I know Carrie is the lone Marshall but still if those people she knew would have helped it could have been prevented, because once they reveal who it is it just makes the whole film a worthless experience. A twist alien invasion ending would have been better and films with aliens attached to them are movies I don’t usually like.

They played on the clichés. Clearly Hollywood tried for an original idea for a film, oh wait this film was based on a graphic novel. I actually thought Hollywood created at least an original concept. I guess I thought wrong. Oh well this film just did not play out like I expected it too. And the random swearing from the middle point on was a bit odd. Average normal dialogue from the start and then boom swear fest. I don’t get that, I know people swear a lot in real life, but then add it right from the beginning. I don’t care about swearing a film, just don’t it add it mid way. Or don’t add one or two for dramatic purposes. Use it throughout or just leave it out.