HDC Movie of the Week #3 - The Thing (2011)

[_____V_____]

Into the 3rd iteration of our series, I have chosen the controversial prequel to the much-loved Carpenter remake of the 80s - The Thing.

It gives us a great glimpse into the sequence of events which followed the opening sequence of Carpenter's film, the spaceship crashing into the Earth's atmosphere, and the "dog" being chased by the Norwegian chopper into the US's Antarctic base.

I thought the film is a good and worthy prequel to Carpenter's 80s classic. Some of the CGI sequences look a bit tacky and Winstead's presence feels unwarranted, but still the film pretty much holds its own, has some really wonderful atmosphere, and is filled with plenty of nailbiting moments.

[totem]

This is a classic "A"-for-effort film. It's clear the movie was made by fans of the Carpenter classic. Their attention to detail in accounting for what the Americans uncover when they fly to the camp is exquisite.

However, the film as a whole, is still giving us more of the same. I thought the filling element was clever, but the ending with that flame thrower was completely dropping the ball & Winstead is unwarranted.

This movie's Thing also seems more Men In Black aggressive & not the need-some-time Thing from 1982. So, though the unoriginality factor is uncomfortably high, I'd still recommend seeing it.

[metternich1815]

I voted for "thumbs down", but that does not accurately indicate my feelings on the film. I thought it was an enjoyable picture and it was interesting to have seen what happened at the Norwegian camp. With that being said, it could have been so much better.

First, I feel that they did not explore the alien as much as they could have. I was really disappointed by their exploration of the alien ship as well. Since the Norwegians first discovered the alien, they could have discovered things about the alien that the American station did not. One of the main purposes of a prequel is to explore topics such as these in greater detail than the original film. It seemed to have been wasted potential in this regard.

Second, the whole idea of Americans being called to the camp seemed completely illogical. This was only done, in my opinion, so that some of the characters could speak English. I think either one they should have done the entire film in Norwegian or two entirely in English, but the Americans should not have been in the film at all. Personally, I favor the former approach. That would have been quite unique for an American film to have been shot in Norwegian. Even with the existing setup, I felt that the language differences were not explored very well. Again, more wasted potential, in my opinion.

Third, the film seemed to be a rehashing of the original film. The original film is an untouchable masterpiece. This needs to be recognized before making the film. Nothing will ever result in this film comparing to the original. It seemed to me though that the filmmakers tried to redo much of what had already been done in Carpenter's film. I think they should have tried to do things that the original did not do. Some scenes were almost exactly the same as in the original film. As often happens when films do this, it just seems like it copies the original instead of trying to establish itself as a separate work. For this reason, many people actually think it is a remake of John Carpenter's the Thing.

Fourth, the film overutilized the showing of the creature. One of the things that made the original so brilliant was that, while the creature was shown, it was done at key moments that made them effective. The prequel showed them almost constantly, which reduces their overall effect. Related to this point, unfortunately, the creatures looked terrible. The original was a masterpiece of special effects, while the prequel relied much too heavily on terrible CGI. This just further ruins their effect. A similar point, was that the film relied much too heavily on "jump scares" in the place of suspense. Some of the best scenes in the original were so great because of the suspense.

These are my main criticism of the film. I feel the film is entertaining and I do watch it from time-to-time, but there was so much wasted potential. The film may never of been able to compare to Carpenter's film, but it should have at least attempted to try new things instead of just rehash Carpenter's masterpiece.

[roshiq]

Originally Posted by _____V_____

I thought the film is a good and worthy prequel to Carpenter's 80s classic. Some of the CGI sequences look a bit tacky and Winstead's presence feels unwarranted, but still the film pretty much holds its own, has some really wonderful atmosphere, and is filled with plenty of nailbiting moments.

Agree with you, V. Comparing today's standards of remakes & prequels it was made pretty decently. At least, I didn't dislike or hate it. Perhaps I was expecting too much but the thing that sometime bugged me about it was the story actually offered nothing so much new into the plate...with more or less same tone they just tied it nicely with Carpenter's 80s classic and that's obviously a great accomplishment, needless to say. May be it'll be too muck risky venture but the studio may now try for a sequel of Carpenter's version with a different set up/location.

[Straker]

I didn't hate it, but it really wasn't all that good and not the sort of movie I go out of my way to watch again. Average at best.

[The Villain]

Definitely the weakest of the three Thing movies but it was a much better effort compared to other prequel/remakes that have been made recently. It was fun, action packed, and had plenty of monster moments but relied too heavily on CGI and failed to live up to the iconic standards of its predecessors. That being said it wasn't terrible. Just average. It doesn't need to be seen nor avoided.

[Anthropophagus]

A thumbs up for me though i do not like the cgi,much prefer the old school of Bottin`s stunning work.

I thought it tied in very nicely to the Carpenter Thing movie very well.The only downer for me was actually the ending in the spaceship,i would have left that whole scene out myself and gone a different way to finish the film,thus leading into the Carpenter version.

[ChronoGrl]

Thumbs up for me... Was it a perfect movie? No. Was it as good as its "sequel"? No. Was it an absolute blast? YES.

I thought that the beasties were a lot of fun to watch and I only wish I had seen it in the theater. I also appreciated how it dovetailed into Carpenter's movie. Some of the ending was a little silly (an unnecessary "twist" for example) but overall it was a lot of fun.

[hammerfan]

I'm going to have to pass on the discussion of this one. I know I've seen it, and can't remember a damn thing about it!