The main image in my head after Whiteout was the constant blizzard that literally made it difficult to see the action. Take away the flurries and the plot is blurry. Whiteout is a thriller directed by Dominic Sena (Gone in 60 Seconds). Based on the graphic novel by Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber, Whiteout is visually stunning, featuring colorful sunsets and long shots of snow-covered mountains and trees. Although shot in Canada, Sena had no problem creating a convincing Antarctica.
But, even though Whiteout looks nice, it fails to accomplish much else. It lacks breaks in the action, humor, plot clarity and character development, which makes the whole film difficult to care about. The protagonist, Carrie Stetko, is the only exception. Played competently by Kate Beckinsale, (Underworld) Stetko is a U.S. Marshal that moved from Miami to Antarctica, the dullest possible place for a Marshal. A mishap in a recent assignment almost kills her and causes her to question her abilities - not to mention the fact she starts having flashbacks.
Stetko takes on the continent's first murder case with a lot of caution, but things begin to go awry, as she almost shoots her partner, U.N. Agent Pryce on numerous occasions. Stetko sets out with Pryce (Gabriel Macht) and camp member, Delfy (Columbus Short) to find answers.
This investigation leads to several, dangerous encounters. For example, the team gets stuck underground in -65 degree weather, suffers from frostbite, comes across way too many corpses, etc. At one point, Stetko even uses rope to trudge through snow while an unknown ax man chases after her. Thrilling.
But after the third time of watching this sequence, we realize she is going to live, so the film begins to lose its sense of danger and suspense.
Beckinsale portrays the heroine as sharp and tough, but predictably paranoid. Other than gaining a little more confidence, Stetko hardly changes by the end of the film. She does change out of her clothes, though, for a completely unnecessary shower scene. Even given that extremely limited character transformation, the rest of the cast remains even more static - not that they were interesting to begin with. Pryce has a thing for Stetko but never acts on it. Delfy, in his attempt to provide comedic relief, isn't quite funny enough. Even the poorest of action films can make viewers laugh a little, but Whiteout comes up relatively empty-handed in this regard.
So, what you're left with is a script that is completely humorless and repetitive scenes designed to create high levels of pure tension, making it more stressful than entertaining to watch. The only joke I remember is an Australian calling Stetko a "crazy bitch," which isn't really a joke as much as it is unnecessary vulgarity - comedy for the lowest common denominator.
The film makes no attempt at romance either. Stetko and Pryce have chemistry when she's not trying to shoot him, but nothing really comes of it. I know, action films aren't necessarily known for their humor or romance, but they usually have a lot more variety than snow, planes and corpses. Even the ending - the usual 'make or break' moment for thrillers - attempts to tie up loose ends by throwing in a bunch of twists that don't really make sense, leaving the viewer confused and dissatisfied when the credits start to roll.
In short, Whiteout has little going for it. The film's main strengths are Beckinsale, the beautiful scenery and its ability to somewhat maintain a constant level of suspense. Anyone who likes thrillers might enjoy it, but no one should expect Whiteout to blow you away.
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