Movie review: WHITEOUT

WHITEOUT

Movie review by David Blackwell

101 minutes, rated R

ASPECT RATIO: 2.35:1

STUDIO: Warner Bros. Pictures/ Dark Castle Entertainment

Theatrical RELEASE DATE: 9-11-2009

STARRING Kate Beckinsale (Carrie Stetko), Gabriel Macht (Robert Pryce), Tom Skerritt (Dr. John Fury), Columbus Short (Delfy), Alex O. Loughlin (Russell Haden)

WRITTEN by Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber, Chad Hayes, Carey Hayes

Based on the graphic novel by Greg Rucka

DIRECTED by Dominic Sena

WHITEOUT is in the tradition of solid and not outstanding thriller. I did see the ending coming. It is based on a comic book (one of the many comic book adaptations of something other than something out of the superhero genre). Kate Beckinsale is good as U.S. Marshall Carrie Stetko, who has been assigned to Antarctica for the last two years after almost being killed in Miami. She is about to resign and get out of the coldest place in the world when she is called to an area where a dead body has been found. It is the first murder in Antarctica and it has great implications as it goes deeper into a mystery that extends back 50 years ago to a crashed Russian cargo plane.

The movie does play up a little drama. It has a little paranoia only not to play it up like a movie like this should. The Antarctica outpost reminds of the type of outpost that people will need to survive on Mars. Part of me wishes this was a sci-fi or horror movie because you could real play up all type of other genre elements. The characters are underdeveloped only to have a little of Carrie Stetko fleshed out through her actions, reactions, and flashbacks. Sadly, you have a play-by-the-numbers thriller that is just good enough to entertain you for 90 minutes. It makes me wishing more for the 3D Underworld movie with Kate Beckinsale.