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

Awesome prequel... graphics up to snuff. Actors were decent. Score wasn't too shabby, and the action/intensity was all there. Storyline got better and better as it went along. Atmosphere was just right for the style of the story, which does differ slightly from Carpenter's version. Definitely a great expansion to the THE THING universe.

Think of it as Jurassic Park + Aliens + X-files + Predator + The Thing (1982) + Dawn of the Dead = The Thing 2011.

I see a lot of people trying to turn this into some sort of competition with the '82 John Carpenter release I mean, seriously, look at what people are saying they are trying to top. Carpenter as director/producer, Morricone for the score, and actors like Russell and Brimley? Seriously? You will never, ever, ever top that... no matter how much money you have, how hard you try. It will never be undone because it was all the right timing and magic to make that a timeless masterpiece that just can't be beaten.

Instead, the prequel focuses on not trying to outdo Carpenter's, but expand on it... and it does it amazingly well. A very worthy prequel indeed! I just think to many people are trying to toss the two films into competition, when the production and development teams themselves have stated they were not attempting to "beat" carpenters masterpiece, but fill in the blanks and give a very detailed back story.

Carpenters version is thriller, panic, and group fear with some action.

STRIKE's version was action, chaos, anxiety and the tragedy that occurred leading up to the events of Carpenters with a far more descriptive background on the thing itself... yet still not unveiling all the secrets of this unusual alien monster.

And for the effort, and one happy fan, I still say it deserves right around a 9/10. Especially considering prequels and additions and remakes today... this one stands out like the "dawn of the dead" STRIKE update.

Very entertaining, and the ending scene during the credits really reached out and touched my nostalgic heart... the crowd actually cheered. I took friends to see it on release night tonight as well, and all 6 of them... and this is a first, came out loving it. 2 of them had not even seen the Carpenter version.