It's pretty poor.
Whiteout (2009)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:102
Fresh:6
Rotten:96
Average Rating:3.4/10
Consensus: Kate Beckinsale is as lovely as ever, and does her best with the material, but moribund pacing and an uninspired plot leave Whiteout in the cold.
Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for violence, grisly images, brief strong language and some nudity
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Theatrical Release:11-09-2009
Synopsis:
Antarctica...
The most isolated landmass on Earth
90° S. latitude, zero E. longitude
Six million square miles of ice
...
Antarctica...
The most isolated landmass on Earth
90° S. latitude, zero E. longitude
Six million square miles of ice
Six months of darkness
Temperatures at minus-120 degrees
Winds at 100 miles per hour
Nature never intended you to survive here.
For U.S. Marshal Carrie Stetko, things are about to get even more dangerous. The only law enforcement in this unforgiving territory, she has just been sent to investigate a body on the ice. Antarctica's first homicide. A shocking discovery in itself, it will plunge her into an even more bizarre mystery and the revelation of secrets long-buried under the endless ice...secrets that someone believes are still worth killing for.
As Stetko races to find the killer before he finds her, winter is already closing in. In the deadly Antarctic whiteout, she won't see him till he's a breath away. --© Warner Bros
Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Gabriel Macht, Tom Skerritt, Columbus Short
Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Gabriel Macht, Tom Skerritt, Columbus Short, Alex O'Loughlin
Director: Dominic Sena
Director: Dominic Sena
Screenwriter: Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber, Chad Hayes, Carey W. Hayes
Producer: Joel Silver, Susan Downey
Composer: John Frizzell
Studio: Warner Bros.
Reviews for Whiteout
John Frizzel’s over-worked soundtrack keeps telling us how exciting everything is, but it feels as if we’re frozen in time. Not so much a white-out as wipe-out.
There's wonderful potential for permanently bleached out vistas to embody a metaphorical emptiness. Here it's just a great big blank.
A whodunnit set on a scientific research base in Antarctica that slowly becomes a “Who cares?”
Despite Beckinsale's impeccable features appearing to be rendered in porcelain, her performance is far from lifeless...she does the best with the material. It's just a shame the same can't be said for the film-makers.
The sub-standard work from everyone involved means that Whiteout is very much a missed opportunity that undoubtedly would have been better left on the comic book page.
Devoid of personality and full of characters so one-dimensional that they aren’t even worth mentioning in this review, Whiteout is a movie that sees no-one emerge with any credit.
With plotholes you could drive a snowplough through and as eventful as an Antarctic winter, Whiteout is less a whodunit than a getonwithit.
Set in Antarctica, but unbelievably boring. I kept hoping for something unexpected to show up, like a killer penguin, but it never did.
Hobbled by a ruinously slow start, an utter lack of excitement and a twist ending that everyone will see coming, we're left with one of the year's worst.
The first sight the audience gets of the Brit star is her stripping to her undies, pointing her perfectly-shaped rear to the camera then stepping into the shower. It's one of Whiteout's three highlights.
Apart from a lascivious shot of his scantily clad star, director Dominic Sena keeps the action fairly swift under blizzard-like conditions: at times we seem to be watching people fight inside a snow globe.
Whiteout has a good premise and a likeable lead, but it goes rapidly downhill and is ultimately disappointing.
This generic snowbound thriller desperately wants to remind you of Insomnia, but it's not worth losing much sleep over.
Needed: Generic thriller in an exotic setting, some gore, possible sci-fi elements, female lead, and an older male star to play grizzled supporting character. Must work cheap.
Whiteout is a colorless wasteland. There's only one thing that could have helped cover this film up: A flashback that changed the script's name to Wite-Out.
The film's biggest crime is that no obvious effort was made here, everything flows with the rigidity of a check list of genre cliches and safe choices.
Latest News for Whiteout
September 10, 2009:
Critics Consensus: 9 Looks Great, But The Plot's Weak
This week at the movies, we've got post-apocalyptic conflict (9, with voice work by Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly); Antarctic intrigue (Whiteout, starring Kate Beckinsale... More...
September 09, 2009:
Total Recall: Chill Out With These Antarctica Movies
Unless you happen to be overly fond of snow, Antarctica probably isn't a place you think about very often -- and for the most part, filmmakers have always been the same way. For... More...
August 15, 2009:
Trailer & Poster review ![]()
More...
December 05, 2008:
The Cadillac Records Interviews: Columbus Short And Mos Def Not Into Bow Wow ![]()
More...
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