Whiteout

The Antarctica-set Whiteout, starring Kate Beckinsale as a U.S. Marshal tracking a killer across the ice, is director Dominic Sena’s first film in eight years. Since his last two movies were Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000) and Swordfish (2001), it should be noted that Mr. Sena’s work has progressed from repulsive to merely bad; another decade like this, and he’ll reach mediocrity. Beckinsale’s Carrie Stetko is about to return home after years of self-imposed exile, but a string of murders linked to a 50-year-old Russian plane crash threatens to trap her at the South Pole for six more months. Whiteout offers a great setting for a thriller, and a handful of scenes exploit the dangers of the frozen landscape. Unfortunately, the story is weak, the mystery is a dud, and the acting by Beckinsale and Gabriel Macht is unenthusiastic.