One of the worst comic book adaptations of the modern age feels the heat of the streaming sun once more

Kate Beckinsale has gained a curious reputation when it comes to modern day action heroes, in that she can always be relied on to deliver a worthy performance in the genre, but the movies in which she does it leave a lot to the imagination. The actress is no stranger to a dud or two, either, but Whiteout fared so badly that it was almost instantly lost to the sands of time, or snows in this case.

Based on the four-episode series penned by The Old Guard creator Greg Rucka in 1998, nobody even seemed to notice, realize, or care that the 2009 crime thriller was a comic book adaptation. That was probably something that should have been played up in the marketing, because director Dominic Sena’s terrible take on the material was otherwise dead on arrival.

A Rotten Tomatoes score of only seven percent to go along with an equally dismal audience approval rating of 21 percent makes Whiteout one of the worst-reviewed comic book movies of the modern era, while a box office haul of less than $18 million ensured that more salt was rubbed into the wounds after it bombed thunderously in theaters.

Beckinsale – no stranger to doing her best to elevate a mediocre genre film as the likes of Underworld, Jolt, and the Total Recall remake have proven – does the best she can as a federal marshal days away from finishing up her posting in remotest Antarctica. However, her all-too-quiet existence is shattered when she finds a dead body, forcing her to crack the case of the continent’s first-ever homicide.

The potential was definitely there, but Whiteout‘s critical and commercial performance was nothing short of embarrassing. Streaming subscribers will give almost anything a second chance, though, so FlixPatrol outing the forgotten failure as one of HBO Max’s most-watched features in the early part of this week shouldn’t really come as much of a surprise to anyone.