Whiteout - Incubo bianco

Neither great nor horrible, it's entertaining, smart, and sometimes has some surprises that are worth seeing, but expect action thriller melodrama as opposed to science fiction intrigue.

The main problem is that it's often too formulaic and cliché, sometimes nearly nonsensical. It feels in many ways like any other FBI/CIA international mystery thriller involving lots of brutally murdered people, with the exception of the setting.

Nice FX and a sort of gore horror film element (that axe murderer story lovers will greatly appreciate) add something beyond the FBI melodrama to create some excitement, thrills, and disturbing moments.

Here's a sure bet: Out of 12 million NetFlix customers, only a handful have ever been to Antarctica! A hostile environment provides a great backdrop for an Action/Crime/Drama/ Thriller (IMDb genres) such as WHITEOUT. And Antarctica is just about as hostile as it gets!

FIRST... Let us FOCUS on the Title´s Content and Context:

...WHITEOUT does get off to a really GREAT start. While in the theater, my enjoyment was genuine during 80 to 90% of the movie...Just after viewing, 3 7.7*... rounded up to 8* was my rating...But after a few hours of cerebral ricocheting, I realized that perhaps I'd allowed my emotions a little too much free reign, permitting myself to be a partial victim of WHITEOUT's cinematic snow job!... YES..."I was SNOW-BLINDED by the Light!" Therefore, my revised rating is 6*!

I'll explain: WHITEOUT does have a few top-notch scenes, where director Dominic Sena (Swordfish/GONE in 60 Seconds) really manages to work the "Hostile Environment" angle I mentioned at the beginning to its fullest! However, this very unique initial strength proves eventually, in the long run, to be a tremendous constraint on the overall film.

During the first half of WHITEOUT there are several scenes where the safe haven home-base compound is left behind and helicopter trips are taken as part of an ongoing murder investigation. But the all-white outdoors soon gets a little drab and painfully bright on the eyes!

During most of the last half of the film, weather conditions force everyone to pretty much stay inside the compound, which also provides rather austere viewer surroundings.

This movie suffered from insufficient character development and over-reliance on several action-thriller-slasher scenes, which, although exciting and well-executed, were not enough to sustain WHITEOUT at a solid 8******** for its duration!

ENJOY! / DISFRUTELA!

....Any Comments, Questions or Observations, in ENGLISH o en ESPAÑOL, are most WELCOME!

Whiteout isn't as bad as people are claiming it is, in fact I had an OK time with it, when all was said and done. There is a dull section in the middle that's hard to get through, but the fairly exciting finale makes up for that in my opinion. I give big props to the film cast for having to go through such a rigorous weather treatment, but it made for a fairly effective movie. The negative thing about Whiteout though is, I didn't think it took advantage of its immense potential. It's definitely watchable and fairly entertaining, but it could have been a film to remember with that type of setting and the plot, and unfortunately I guessed the twist at the end halfway through the movie. Kate Beckinsale makes for a very good lead, while being believable at the same time, and that's very important for a film like this. Whiteout has it's fair share of spooky moments, the atmosphere is great, and in the end I was entertained for the most part, but it could have been so much more.

Performances. Kate Beckinsale is gorgeous to look at, but also a pretty good actress too. She's likable and her Feistyness, but also vulnerability worked well for her. Gabriel Macht does well as Pryce, he was pretty charismatic. Tom Skerritt is OK as the Doctor, I suppose he had a presence. Columbus Short is likable as Delfy. Alex O'Loughlin is quite intense in his role.

Bottom line. It's worth a watch on Telly or DVD that's for sure, it passes the time well.

6/10

Whiteout was better that I expected after reading the summary and a few reviews. I am surprised that given the storyline, that the movie was as interesting as it was. I would recommend it to a friend, with context. Don't expect it to be the best movie that you have ever seen, but it is suspenseful and fun to watch. Stick with it, it took 20 minutes to pick up real steam.

I actually felt this movie was fairly decent. Looking at a lot of the reviews, people seem to feel so outraged at how horrible this movie apparently was, but I don't know what they were expecting. If you're that angry about the supposed "twist" foreshadowed in the trailer, then you should have been smart enough to know that the chances of this movie coming through with some amazing and original twist were very slim.

Anyway, as for the film itself, there were definitely many flaws. That stupid shower scene in the first 10 minutes of the movie was so tactless I was almost ready to leave. The acting was mediocre at best. I think Gabriel Macht is an extremely good looking guy, but based on this film he is a horrendous actor. Kate Beckinsale was okay as the lead... She had her moments. The dialogue was so cheesy though. And the film was just also very predictable and tedious. The flashback scenes in particular got pretty annoying as pretty much the same exact scene was repeated at least 3 or 4 times throughout the movie.

But perhaps the best aspect of the film is the scenery. The outside shots were beautiful. The whole idea of being on Antarctica was fascinating and is perhaps the main reason why I was able to put up with many of its flaws. I wish they developed that aspect of the story more. I also felt some of the blood and gore were also well done. It was more tasteful than a slasher movie but still just as gut-wrenching.