Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2010 9:49 am
Kate Beckinsale, who is as gorgeous as ever, plays a U.S. Marshal whose tour of duty in Antarctica is coming to an end when a murder takes place keeping her there.
This is a murder mystery, NOT a movie about monsters or whatever in Antarctica. They already made that movie, it's called The Thing and it is fantastic, so go see it if you haven't.
I mention that because that's apparently the biggest complaint people had about this film. They got the impression that this was a horror film. Not sure if that's the fault of the folks who made the trailers or the consumers who didn't understand what they were going to see.
This was based on a book, and it's pretty damn faithful to it. There were a few things that were added, but overall I was very impressed with how well they followed the original story.
Kate is joined on screen by the always solid Tom Skerritt who plays the station's doctor.
The story flows pretty smoothly, and despite this not being an action flick, there's not a lot of "sitting in an office chatting" scenes. In fact, the director does a fantastic job of really using the environment and the story to make you feel as if anything could happen at any moment. Dominic Sena is the director, and I truly think he should give horror and/or suspense films a chance based on his work here.
The real star of the film is Antarctica. Just seeing how everything is different there really adds a lot to the film. Watching the chase scenes is particularly entertaining because of the safety systems there to keep you from wandering off into the snow. It's not something I want to describe, you'll just have to see it. It's one of the few, if only, times in film where your immersion level immediate declines, but that actually adds to your enjoyment of the movie. It's quite odd.
My biggest complaint would be an outdoor scene between the Marshal, a fed, and the killer. It wasn't in the book, and it's slightly over the top. It's passable though.
It's a solid rental and one you can enjoy with your significant other.
6 out of 10.
This is a murder mystery, NOT a movie about monsters or whatever in Antarctica. They already made that movie, it's called The Thing and it is fantastic, so go see it if you haven't.
I mention that because that's apparently the biggest complaint people had about this film. They got the impression that this was a horror film. Not sure if that's the fault of the folks who made the trailers or the consumers who didn't understand what they were going to see.
This was based on a book, and it's pretty damn faithful to it. There were a few things that were added, but overall I was very impressed with how well they followed the original story.
Kate is joined on screen by the always solid Tom Skerritt who plays the station's doctor.
The story flows pretty smoothly, and despite this not being an action flick, there's not a lot of "sitting in an office chatting" scenes. In fact, the director does a fantastic job of really using the environment and the story to make you feel as if anything could happen at any moment. Dominic Sena is the director, and I truly think he should give horror and/or suspense films a chance based on his work here.
The real star of the film is Antarctica. Just seeing how everything is different there really adds a lot to the film. Watching the chase scenes is particularly entertaining because of the safety systems there to keep you from wandering off into the snow. It's not something I want to describe, you'll just have to see it. It's one of the few, if only, times in film where your immersion level immediate declines, but that actually adds to your enjoyment of the movie. It's quite odd.
My biggest complaint would be an outdoor scene between the Marshal, a fed, and the killer. It wasn't in the book, and it's slightly over the top. It's passable though.
It's a solid rental and one you can enjoy with your significant other.
6 out of 10.