Review of The Thing (2011) by Drm — 14 Oct 2011

Ok. First thing's first (no pun intended). I am a huge fan of the previous two iterations of this movie. That being said, I thought this was a pretty decent addition to the franchise. it wasn't amazing, but it didn't suck either.

I can definitely see that Matthijs van Heijningen is a meticulous fan of the John Carpenter version. His attention to detail is really quite stunning. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is very good in this. I think she probably is a far better actress than the script allowed her to be.

Can't wait to see what she pops up in next. The Thing itself was technically good. Nice and creepy, but still "computer creepy". There really is no substitute for real goddamn make up effects and prosthetics.

There is nothing as scary as Rick Baker's dog transformation scene, in the 82 version, in this movie. Why? Because it was really there, and you got the added benefit of an actor truly interacting with something terrifying.

I digress. Also, design-wise, it seems to me that too many people in the CG world are being pooped out on a conveyor belt, thinking that in order to make something creepy, you just need to throw tentacles, a crab claw, and a lamprey mouth on it.

These are all terrestrial structures (as in, found here, on Earth). The Thing is an alien. See the problem? The Rick Baker stuff uses all of that imagery too, but there's a whole lot more imagination going on there.

Aspects of this Thing's creature design seemed culled directly from a Resident Evil game. Some have brought up the tired old, "Americans don't do subtitles", or the even more specious, "All Norwegians look a like" crap, but none of that is responsible for my blasé score.

It is more based on a lack of design creativity, some cumbersome dialog, and some awkward direction, that really prevented this from being the home run it should of been. Did I have fun watching it? You bet your ass I did.

Would I watch it again? If it was on TV I would. And really, you do have to give it to Matthijs for putting everything back the way he found it. On that point, he did an exceptional job.