The premise is intriguing – a U.S. marshal must investigate the first murder in Antarctica's history. But nothing of Dominic Sena's execution is intriguing. Frost bitten clichés roll one on top of each other like one of those giant snowballs in cartoons. But unlike cartoons, the laughs here are not intentional.
Carrie Stetko (Kate Beckinsale, UNDERWORLD) is a U.S. marshal who took the middle of nowhere post after a tragedy on her last job. Someone has spotted a body out on the ice, but how did it get there? Doc Fury (Tom Skerritt, A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT) believes the man was killed with an ice ax. When pilot Delfy (Columbus Short, CADILLAC RECORDS) takes Stetko out to a remote outpost to follow up a lead, the marshal meets the masked killer, and UN envoy Robert Pryce (Gabriel Macht, THE SPIRIT), who has been sent in to help the investigation.
How much of Greg Rucka's graphic novel has made it to the screen is unknown to me. The screenplay was written over by two sets of brothers – Jon & Erich Hoeber and Chad & Carey Hayes. Who's to blame for what ended up in the final script is unknown, but what is known is the foundation for this whole production started on thin ice. The stock characters are placed in a wonderful setting, but little moves beyond bad slasher killer material. Clunky dialogue and characters who narrate what we see on the screen are just the tip of the iceberg.
Sena's direction is also up for debate. Some pacing and editing decisions make for humor that was not intended. During one flashback, Stetko narrates to Pryce, "I woke up and had an uneasy feeling" – cut to the empty handcuffs of a prisoner on a bedpost. Ya think she might have more than an uneasy feeling. Moments like these that are supposed to be serious play like they are out of a NAKED GUN movie. The action sequences in the snow are so awkwardly constructed that they seem in slow motion. The harsh environment could have been used for good use, but it never works here. Outside the facilities, the people must use tethers to make sure they don't get lost in whiteouts. When one little strap is attached to the tether, the people can stand and move fairly well, but cut that strap and they float off like tissue paper in a snowstorm.
From the illogic of a gun fight in a plane to the gratuitous PG-13 Beckinsale shower scene, the film sets a precedent of "that would be cool" moments over common sense. It settles in for a bit while the investigation begins, but once the killer shows up like a rejected villain for MY BLOODY VALENTINE, the film is just like getting stuck out in the cold, it gets more painful as the exposure increases.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
