Review of The Thing (2011) by Cameron D — 06 Jun 2012

The Thing is about a young student named Kate Lloyd (Winstead) whom joins a team that has discovered an alien space craft down near a research center in Antarctica. While down there, the team removes a frozen alien life form...from the ice, where Dr. Halvorson (Thomsen) decides it's a good idea to take a sample from it (Thumbs Up!). From this point on nothing seems to go right, the alien comes back to life, frees itself from the ice block and begins to eliminate people one by one, two by two. But there's one thing about it, the alien can replicate human cells and look identical to the person it has devoured. So now panic must ensue. Who's really who? Who can really be trusted? And will Kate be able to seek out the alien(s) before they get to her!?!

First off, this is a prequel to John Carpenter's The Thing, which in my opinion is a much smarter, scarier and better film. But then again, after seeing the prequel, almost anything is better than it. Where Carpenter's The Thing was filled with thrills, chills and gore, not to mention fantastic special effects, this one completely lacked in all fields. Going with the special effects, it seemed as if no one was really trying. The substitution for computer effects over prosthetics or molds was probably the worst idea. The first time we see someone change into the Thing it honestly looks like the man just became a giant wad of chewed bubble gun. Then to show the creature so often just took away from the suspense and solid scares of the film. Then there's the characters, it was hard to feel anything for them and to want more than just for them to die so we could move on to the next. The only like able character seemed to be Lars, played by Jorgen Langhelle, and he didn't even speaka lick of English (maybe that's why I liked him, I didn't have to hear him give out dumb lines all the time). I wanted so much more from Winstead. And I wanted so much more from Edgerton, who was great as the down on his luck brother in Warrior or a perfect fit as a member of the dangerous family in Animal Kingdom. But there just seemed to be nothing to go off of for them. The script seemed to fall flat on its face, giving us nothing but boring conversations and wannabe intense scenes. So, with all that being said I gave this movie one and half stars because I liked two things. First, I thought it was a cool scene when they walk down into the cave and we see the buried spaceship, interesting enough. Second, there is one scene at the end (before the connection to the Carpenter film) that is shot really well, almost in a way that doesn't fit along with the rest of the movie. Not to give away much, but it involves fire and someone burning. I say just pass by this one. For a film that seemed to be talked about forever, it was a waste. When Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galatica, Carnivale and Star Trek: The Next Generation) was attached to the project, it had me interested and excited. Then when I saw his named had been dropped, it was like a slap in the face. Do I feel like I wish I could have my hour and forty minutes back? No. What I do wish is that I just didn't feel so damn disappointed.