Whiteout Blu-ray offers decent video and great audio, but overall it's a mediocre Blu-ray release
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.
What would The Thing be without John Carpenter's shape-shifting monstrosity? 30 Days of Night without Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith's ravenous blood-suckers? Alien vs. Predator without its interstellar beasties? For that matter, what would any Antarctic thriller be without its chills and thrills? Unfortunately, a lot like Whiteout, director Dominic Sena's tedious, derivative adaptation of writer Greg Rucka and artist Steve Lieber's Eisner-nominated comicbook limited series. Trapped in development hell for seven years -- surviving multiple cast changes and countless rewrites from 1999 to 2006 -- the project finally began filming in early 2007... only to have its theatrical release delayed to September of 2009. Honestly, the studio should have buried it deeper. As watery as it is nonsensical, as monotonous as it is convoluted, the oft-delayed film lacks the punch, prowess, and inventiveness it so desperately needs.
Apparently every U.S. Marshal stationed in Antarctica is issued a makeup artist and hairstylist...
When corpses begin piling up at a small base in Antarctica, U.S. Deputy Marshal Carrie Stetko (Kate Beckinsale, a demure law enforcement officer if there ever was one) and United Nations agent Robert Pryce (Gabriel Macht) join forces to track down an elusive murderer. What they uncover instead is a downed Russian plane, a mysterious cargo someone is willing to kill for, and a cast of characters who exist for the sole purpose of raising our nigh-invincible heroine's suspicions. There's Pryce himself, ever present at the scene of a crime; Delfy (Columbus Short), a helpful young man who seems to be a bit too helpful; Russell (Alex O'Loughlin), a cocky pilot cursed with a few too many flaws; John Fury (Tom Skerritt), Carrie's beloved doctor and resident father figure; Sam Murphy (Shawn Doyle), a good friend and loyal worker; and an uncleared guest who isn't at all what he appears to be. Can they figure out what the killer is searching for? Can they prevent anyone else from dying? Can they piece together a fifty-year-old puzzle involving a Cold War macguffin and a crew of long-dead Russian soldiers? Meh. The answers don't really matter. (For the record: yep, but it isn't very exciting... nope, more bodies hit the floor... and yep, even if it makes little sense).
If Whiteout's characters were at all interesting, its slowburn pacing wouldn't be an issue. If its story housed a gripping mystery, it might be a more captivating whodunit. If its performances consisted of something I hadn't seen six dozen times before, I may have been pulled to the edge of my seat. If its harrowing action sequences weren't ruined by tight closeups, indistinct environments, and protagonists and antagonists who, because of their hooded parkas and goggles, essentially look the same in the middle of a blizzard, I might have found something to enjoy. If, if, if, if. Alas, Sena's critical and box office bomb is a mess, and a dull one at that. Plot holes litter the script, inane developments will leave most viewers shaking their heads, and the film's implausible endgame is more anticlimactic than I could have possibly imagined. But it gets worse. A steady steam of overbearing flashbacks muck up the proceedings, none of which amount to anything of import. An opening vignette offers too many answers to the central mystery, leaving us with no choice but to wait as the characters struggle to deduce what we learned at the outset. And the murderous deeds themselves involve too many characters who miraculously avoid capture, change clothes, and somehow make their way to the other side of the base before anyone's the wiser.
The performances flatline as well. While I can't fault the actors much since they clearly do the best they can with what little they've been given, no one surges to the forefront or demands attention. Beckinsale clings to an extremely small pool of go-to expressions, rendering her character the most stoic prom queen to wield a firearm in some time. Only a second-act hand injury -- the film's ballsiest, most commendable subplot -- gives her a legitimate opportunity to emote. Macht tends to leer and lean into camera, no doubt following Sena's orders to the letter. His Pryce is a serviceable but obvious red herring; the one potential villain you know you can count out simply because he's such a convenient suspect. Skerritt taps into his veteran charms, but has to contend with the same sort of grating genre dialogue and thinly veiled exposition his castmates are forced to deliver. Together, the trio look fairly miserable. Though I might be picking up on their reaction to the harsh conditions of the shoot, I get the impression they knew all too well how shaky the film had become. As it stands, there's several very good reasons Whiteout earned a paltry 6% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Above all, Sena fumbles what could have been an unbearably intense tale, producing a plodding and predictable thriller reminiscent of a direct-to-video misfire. My advice? Only consider renting Whiteout if nothing else is available. Otherwise, skip it entirely. Chances are you'll be glad you did.
Whiteout arrives on Blu-ray with a surprisingly inconsistent 1080p/VC-1 transfer. While I was prepared to deal with low-visibility shots and wavering detail -- after all, Sena's thriller was shot in exceedingly harsh conditions -- many of the film's interior scenes, none of which have to contend with swirling blizzards or inadequate lighting, suffer from soft faces, mediocre texture clarity and poor delineation. It's downright strange. Watch closely whenever two characters have a conversation. One actor's closeup will be crisp and lifelike, the stuff of high definition goodness, the other actor's closeup will be murky and indistinct, as if his pores have been scrubbed from his cheeks. Worse still, while colors remain strong (reds boast a particularly satisfying primary punch) and blacks are quite deep, contrast tends to surge and lull, transforming white snow storms into gray whirlwinds and bright labs into dim spaces. Grain comes and goes as well. The film's opening and Carrie's flashbacks are sharp and refined, but other scenes resemble DNR disasters. On a more positive note, artifacting, aliasing, banding and other anomalies are kept to a minimum, and edge enhancement, though apparent at times, never becomes a serious distraction. Still, its transfer is merely a passable one; hardly the polished presentation genre fans will expect.
Thankfully, Warner's bustling Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround track is much better. Dialogue has a few issues -- lines in the center channel are occasionally muffled -- but overall prioritization is spot on and the vast majority of conversations sound as weighty and commanding as they should. LFE output is noteworthy as well, lending roaring blizzards, rumbling arctic plows, and John Frizzell's overcooked score genuine power and presence. Moreover, howling winds whip from channel to channel and scattering snow realistically skitters across the soundfield. The rear speakers are as aggressive and involving as they come, handily enveloping the listener and creating a memorable sonic experience. Not to be outdone, interior acoustics are convincing, pans are smooth, and directionality, though a tad artificial at times, is notably precise for a genre pic of Whiteout's ilk. I'd take the time to complain about the film's what oh what is going to happen next? sound design, but it's frankly beside the point. Warner's technical efforts are commendable and the track should be judged accordingly.
Sigh. The Blu-ray edition of Whiteout doesn't have a lot of supplemental staying power either. "The Coldest Thriller Ever" (HD, 12 minutes) finds the cast and crew struggling to deal with some very challenging elements, "From Page to Screen" (HD, 12 minutes) examines writer Greg Rucka and artist Steve Lieber's original graphic novel, and the disc's two "Deleted Scenes" (SD, 4 minutes) contribute very little to the story or the experience. A filmmakers' commentary or a scene by scene dissection with Rucka and Lieber would have gone a long way.
Without reading Rucka and Lieber's original comic miniseries, I can't comment on Whiteout's faithfulness as an adaptation. I can only hope the graphic novel is more intense, less derivative, and more engrossing than Sena's underwhelming, uneventful, poorly paced thriller. The Blu-ray edition doesn't help matters, serving up an excellent TrueHD audio track alongside a scattershot video transfer and a nearly non-existent supplemental package. If you absolutely must see Whiteout, stick with a rental. Anything more would be a waste of your hard-earned cash.
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