The Thing (2011)

Photo Credit

NOTE: This is a PREQUEL not a SEQUEL or REMAKE!

Director: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr

Cast: Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Kate), Ulrich Thomsen (Dr. Sander Halvorson), Eric Christian Olsen (Adam), Joel Edgerton (Carter)

Plot: A young paleontologist graduate (Kate) is called upon by friend Adam and scientist Dr. Halvorson to help excavate a finding in the middle of Antarctica. They join an isolated Norwegian team who work together to uncover one of the greatest findings in history. They find a creature that is over 100,000 years old and attempt to keep this finding a secret as long as possible, until it all goes horribly wrong. Kate and Dr. Holvorson come to confrontations about how to deal with this alien life force that is threatening to take over the camp which in turn leads all to wonder who is really human.

I was very excited when I saw this film advertised. I am a big fan of the original The Thing (1982) with Kurt Russell.  I love the effects for the time, the excellent acting and above all, the suspense of the film. This film is even in my Top 10 Horror movies!

I love the idea of a group of individuals being isolated from the world and dealing with something that could threaten earths existence. The fact that they are alone with a creature that can imitate human life will get anyone paranoid and this is the basis of the entire film. It's like a who-done-it type of thriller and it leaves you guessing throughout the whole film. You are always surprised when the alien reveals itself and someone you didn't even consider!

The make up effects at the time were groundbreaking as no one had seem something so believable. This is why The Thing 2011 version had a lot to live up to. With the CGI age at it's peak, I was expecting serious changes in this film that could of threatened my enjoyment of it. Thankfully the film did not over do it with the CGI effects. They were definitely better than the original but they did not over power the film.

The producers of this film decided it was best not to do a remake of John Carpenter's film but a prequel with new characters and a different point of view. This film begins in 1982 before the scene in the original when the husky dog is being chased by the helicopter. This means we are taken into the world when the thing was first discovered as this is only touched upon in the first film.

I love the fact we can see what happens when the spaceship and alien are discovered and how it managed to escape. This is a very good idea as many lovers of the original film would be disappointed no matter how good the remake would of been. This film certainly has some good moments and twists. I love the addition of two female characters as this adds an element of vulnerability but also a female heroine which is more commonly seen these days.

There are obviously some parallels to the original film, in terms of how they come up with techniques to discover who is human and who is alien once people start becoming infected. This is a good idea as if these people discovered the alien, they would not have come up with the same scientific experiments as those in the second camp! They still came up with the same way to fight the alien, with flame-throwers on site. This is obviously because they would of had the same equipment on site so this similarity is believable.

The film holds suspense well as you see a build up through the slow pace of the film. I like when two of the team members who crashed in the helicopter with the alien on board return, and how they are treated as outcasts similarly to the character of Blair in the first film. One of these outcasts is Carter who reflects the character of MacReady (Kurt Russell). He is the rebel American who helps Kate survive but in fact it is Kate who is the leading woman and who also portrays a side of MacReady.

The effects of the spaceship were the only downside to the film as it was unnecessary. In the first film the spaceship was considerably smaller and not shown as much which I thought was a better way to deal with the ship element.

Near the end, we see that the dog, which was meant to have been killed by the alien at the very beginning of this film, escapes. It had cleverly been hiding away while the events unfolded, waiting for it's chance to get away and spread. This leaves it open to begin the start of the original film but we also see Kate as the lone survivor which also poses the question, is she still human?

My view: I liked this prequel as it gave some answers as to what happened before the first film and introduced some interesting characters. I enjoyed the special effects up until the spaceship but felt the ending was ambiguous as we weren't sure if Kate was infected or not. This can be seen as a good thing but in my mind it just opens the film to a sequel which may have been intended but may not be needed. I like the fact that this film is always left open ended and would prefer not to see the film expand any further than the isolated region of Antarctica as you face ruining the film entirely.

Recommendation: Watch the original again (or for the first time) before you watch this film so you have a better understanding of the film. I watched it just a week before going to the cinema to re-fresh my memory of this classic film!

Check out the trailer:

The original trailer:



My first reaction to the film: