The Thing (2011) Review

The Thing(2011)

Directed by: Matthijs van Heijningen jr
 Written by : Eric Heisserer (Based on the novella Who Goes
There? by John W.
Campbell.)

Cast
Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Ulrich
Thomsen, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje,   Eric Christian Olsen 
 



Brief Synopsis
Palaeontologist Kate Lloyd is invited by Dr. Sandor Halvorson to join his
team who have found something extraordinary.
      Deep below the Arctic ice, they have found an alien spacecraft that has
been there for perhaps 100,000 years.      
      Not far from where the craft landed, they find the remains of the
occupant. It is cut out of the ice and taken back to their camp, but as the ice
melts the creature reanimates and not only begins to attack them but manages to infect them. With the team members devolving into the alien creature they are slowly eliminated one by one, until only Kate and one other remain….
 
I know this review is probably a bit late now, but I have only recently
watched the film so decided to post my thoughts anyway.     

I think it is fair to say that this ‘Prelude’ to John Carpenters classic was never going to come close to capturing the same atmosphere and character of the original.
     With that in mind it is easier to review the film based on it being a separate entity.
     I have to say that I actually rather enjoyed the film. This may surprise a
few readers based on the bad reception the film received when released, which I have to say I find a little unfair.
    Granted the film lacked in the claustrophobia department and the paranoia
seemed a little thin (all comparisons made with the 1982 version), but I have to lay blame at the script for this and the direction not on the actors. I felt the
actors did as much as they could with what I can only judge as mediocre
direction and a very limited script.
    The film seemed to want to push the alien at you rather than keep it from
you, a bad choice as the fear of the unknown is far greater.
    Towards the end I found myself shouting at the screen asking ‘Where is the dog?’ and ‘There should be more Norwegians!’ A problem again I lay at the feet of the director and screenplay; the whole plot became a little confusing. Maybe my fault as I was constantly trying to attach Carpenters film to this one, and if I had been patient it finally was with the closing credits.
    The ending with the whole battle on the alien craft I did find a little farcical and really quite pointless. A better death scene for the ’conjoined’
alien, which we then see in the Carpenter version, would have made a better
conclusion but again that would just be my opinion.
     The special effects of the Alien appeared mediocre and the Alien itself
rather lame and at times modelled on a rather large crab.
    All this into account the film was ok. I cannot say that I was ever bored
despite the somewhat obvious plot.    
    To say that the film is a ‘Carbon Copy’ of the 1982 version is an insult
to Carpenter and a term I will not use here, but that said it does appear to
have tried to replicate many aspects. 
     In defence of the film, trying to incorporate a new plot where you are
trapped with a Viral, Parasitic alien in an area made up of roughly 5,300,000 sq mi  of ice cannot be easy when trying to not stray to far from the original and keeping in mind it is meant to be a ‘prequel’.

All in all, Nothing to shout about but worth a watch.

RATING 6/10 

(See trailer below)

Purchase ‘The Thing’ 2011/1982
DVD http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Thing-Mary-Elizabeth-Winstead/dp/B005NYMXIU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346158978&sr=8-1

Blu-Ray http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thing-Blu-ray-Mary-Elizabeth-Winstead/dp/B007X31W2W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1346158978&sr=8-3

John Carpenters ‘The Thing’ DVD http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Thing-DVD-Kurt-Russell/dp/B00004D07X/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1346158978&sr=8-4


　

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