Kate Beckinsale’s ‘Whiteout’ About as Thrilling as a Blank Screen

CHICAGO – Producing more derisive snickers than gasps and more snores than thrills, Dominic Sena’s “Whiteout” is a massive waste of time, a predictable, dull, and hysterically cliched slice of junk that should be run out of theaters before month’s end.

Rating: 1.0/5.0

Based on a graphic novel, “Whiteout” has been sitting on the shelf for long enough that the most confounding thing about this mystery is why anyone at Warner Brothers decided to waste their time with a theatrical run instead of just shuffling this mess off to DVD. Only a relatively interesting performance by Kate Beckinsale saves “Whiteout” from being an unmitigated disaster. And just barely.

Read Brian Tallerico’s full review of “Whiteout” in our reviews section. [10]

The film opens in 1957 with a shoot-out on a Russian cargo plane over Antarctica. Whatever the Russians were carrying, it goes down into the frozen tundra at the edge of the world.

Flash forward to the same area of the planet five decades later as a nearby scientific research station is about to shut down for the season of darkness. Of course, a blinding storm is on its way as well. It’s a bad time for a murder mystery to pop up for U.S. Marshall Carrie Stetko (Kate Beckinsale). Stetko is a melting pot of cliches, coming off a case-gone-bad and self-punishing herself by taking the beat that no one else would volunteer to take.

Continuing reading for Brian Tallerico’s full “Whiteout” review. [10]

Whiteout
Photo credit: Warner Brothers Pictures