1. Muxika

   10

   How do you replicate the horror of John Carpenter’s adaptation and present it almost thirty years later? Make The Thing stronger, faster, and smarter. This new rendition stays true to the source material and takes its place among the movies Carpenter’s film inspired, such as 30 Days of Night and the Dead Space animated films. In Matthijs van Heijningen Jr’s prequel to the 1982 sci-fi/horror cult classic, a group of scientists from America and Norway journey to Antarctica, where a research team has uncovered a massive alien ship and its shadowy pilot, amorphous and frozen in the ice floor. The thing breaks free and slowly dissolves the camp’s numbers by devouring its victims and assimilating them one by one. As the creature blends in, the research crew takes reluctant steps into discovering who the thing has become. Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Deathproof, Scott Pilgrim) plays Kate Lloyd, a graduate student assigned to the research crew to investigate the recent findings. As the movie plays through, Lloyd’s cunning and decisiveness raise her to an unpopular leadership position in the group. Her deep voice and serious demeanor help her earn that title (her ease with a flame thrower doesn’t hurt, either). Winstead’s character lacks the grizzly gruffness of Kurt Russell’s, but pilot Braxton Carter (played by Joel Edgerton) tries to fill that void. For the most part Edgerton resembles Russell in speech and looks, but he is a faulty replacement. It feels as though Lloyd and Carter are both needed to fill R.J. MacReady’s boots. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the lead characters aren’t developed, though, as MacReady was a walking, flexing cliché. The other actors attend to their on-screen duties with believability, though their Nordic charms dwindle as the blood and claws start flying. It’s worth mentioning, however, that there is a smart contrast between the festivities after the salvaging of the iced creature and the despair that follows its escape. There is also a slow building of Carpenter’s Norwegian sets throughout the film: an axe is left buried in a door here, a roof collapses there, and little by little the story catches up to the beginning of the 1982 narrative. Even the original music creeps through this new score. Fans of the original will be relieved that the thing is introduced through a generous helping of good old-fashioned animatronics and latex: pincers claw at the ground and its skin glistens with mucosa. When CGI rears its twisted face, it’s to show what Stan Winston’s studio had less effect with: its speed. The monster rips through a block of ice and hurls itself through the encampment like a fleshy bull. The victims it mimics rip open and transform with the sopping textures and animation the original special-effects masters couldn’t quite yet deliver. When it takes the scientists by surprise, there is also a human quality to the creature’s unspoiled parts. Lifelike faces writhe and moan as its swaths of tentacles whip across the screen. The creature now sports new tricks through the nearly limitless design opportunities that they can muster. This new rendition is more than an homage to John Carpenter’s film; it’s solid and complementary to the overarching narrative, which is seemingly difficult to pull off, even with all the remakes that have been springing up these past few years. If you are a fan of the original, you will be more than satisfied with the new film. If this is your first step into the story, you will certainly enjoy it and appreciate the original.… Expand

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     7 of 10 users said yes
2. andischatz

   4

   So much potential, so sadly wasted. There was nothing original in this film whatsoever (I know it's a remake of a remake, but is it too much to expect some new ideas anyway?), it was completely predictable and obvious. From "shock" moments to monster sounds, nothing came as a surprise. If you've seen the trailer, you can skip the movie. Plot and logic holes throughout and there isn't even any comic relief. It's a good thing they kept it relatively short, so at least it isn't boring. My recommendation: Watch something else.… Expand

   • Helpful?

     3 of 3 users said yes
3. RyanPratt

   3

   Skip-it - Even though John Carpenter hasn't made a good film since the 90s, his early-80s version of this film about "things" buried in the ice is 10x better than this remake.… Expand

   • Helpful?

     4 of 5 users said yes

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