Review of The Thing (2011) by Thegodfatherson — 15 Dec 2013

And therein lies the biggest issue with this Thing prequel: it asks us to believe that the same sequence of events could happen to two groups of similar people, all within a short time span (a few days).

While the outcome was always predetermined, the filmmakers behind this new chapter missed the opportunity to put their own unique spin on how these events played into that ending. Even the end credit sequence which directly connects this film to the opening scene of Carpenter’s feels like a heavy-handed contrivance meant to remind us (in case we forgot) that this was a prequel, and not a remake.

But again, like The Thing itself, it’s hard to make that distinction just by looking. Luckily for the filmmakers, the imitation of a good movie still results in a fairly suitable (if flawed) copy.