Based on the graphic novel by Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber, Whiteout is intended as an action thriller about a series of mysterious and violent murders, set in the inhospitable environs of the South Pole. The fact that the moments designed to be tense, edge of the seat stuff, solicit more laughs than gasps is a clear indication that Whiteout is a risible dud. An even greater clue that the film was in trouble long before the title credits rolled is that it has been languishing on the shelves for more than two years.
The distributor’s reservations about releasing it are well founded. From the opening scene of a crudely rendered CGI plane flying over the Antarctic, followed by a shoot out on board involving Russian gangsters, the signs are bad. Everything that comes after only reinforces those initial fears. Quite why Kate Beckinsale committed to star as U.S. Marshal Carrie Steiko is baffling, especially as her first scene is a gratuitous moment of sexploitation involving her disrobing and taking a shower. It was presumably to compensate for the fact that for the remainder of the film she is bundled up against the cold.
Once Dominic Sena had signed on as director, the project was doomed. His resume is a litany of mediocrity, which includes Gone in Sixty Seconds and Swordfish. The latest product of Dark Castle, the production company synonymous with low budget horror tack, Whiteout offers little to recommend it. You’d think a film set in the spectacular surrounds of Antarctica would at least provide some stunning scenery, but it appears the film crew rarely ventured outside of a sound stage and the snow-covered landscape we do see is created not by nature, but by computers.
After taking her shower, we discover Steiko is the resident Marshal at the U.S. Base at the South Pole, a quiet assignment she chose following a traumatic incident while working in the somewhat warmer Miami. The discovery of the body of one of the base’s scientists coincides with the uncovering of a plane that had crashed some 50 years previously. As Steiko endeavors to find if the two incidents are related, more murders at the base occur.
The remoteness of the base means the murderer comes from the small number of people stationed there, with her initial suspicions focusing on the newly arrived U.N. investigator Robert Pryce (Gabriel Macht). Helping her is the base’s resident physician Dr John Fury (Tom Skerritt) who autopsies the growing pile of corpses.
The climactic fight sequence in the snow, rather than be thrilling, is confusing. With all those involved wearing identical coats and covered from the head to toe against the brutal conditions, they become indistinguishable from one another. The only thing that prevents this being a problem is the fact that by this point you really don’t care who’s who, just as long as they hurry up and get it over with.
Kevin Murphy
