The Thing (2011)

The Thing (2011)

Keep in mind that this movie is a direct prequel to the Carpenter film of the same name.  While it doesn’t hold a candle to the Carpenter film, it is a good companion piece to the older movie.  It even answers a lot of questions about certain plot points in the older film.  While it doesn’t have the same level of paranoia and dread as the movie, its heart is in the right place.  In reality, this prequel is closer to the source material than actually the Carpenter film.  So, they sort of merge the Carpenter universe with the novella Who Goes There?. 

Basically, this is the story of what happened to the first outpost owned by the Norwegians in the first movie.  We get to completely see the story unfold from this outpost’s POV.  The alien ship and alien is discovered and so on. 

While the paranoia aspect isn’t as strong, the movie is very violent and a hard R.  I have to give credit to the movie for that.  In this story, the Thing is more mean and violent.  And, there is some evidence that there are two Things out there.  But, if you watched the Carpenter movie, you know what I am talking about.  And, this movie leads directly into the Carpenter movie fairly nicely.  Actually, this movie ends as the first movie begins literally. 

There are echoes and homage to the Carpenter movie such as the “testing” scene, which is almost a stylistic echo of the earlier movie.  Plus, the guys are carrying around blowtorches. 

Now the biggest flaw in the movie is there are some cheap CGI effects that distract from the feel of the movie.  Most of them are good, but certain creature effects just look cheap.  They look almost PS2 looking in some shots.  Some of the acting from the minor characters was a bit bland. 

Marco Beltrami does a great job with the score.  It truly feels like a nice follow up to the Ennio Morricone score from the 80s version.  You actually get to hear the main theme from Ennio in the movie. 

I really found myself enjoying the movie more than I thought I would.  While no one bothered to watch the movie in the theater, and it turned into a box office failure, I still think people need to check it out and make their own decisions and opinions.  Was this prequel was necessary?  Nope, but it was still an interesting reveal into what happened in the other outpost.  The homage and echoes to the Carpenter movie make this a fun watch even if it isn’t as strong as that one. 

Grade: B

 Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje:  “Damn, a mother-f’ing Smoke Monster killed me.  Can you believe it?”  

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 Drilling into an sleeping 2K-old alien might just piss it off. 

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Kill it with FIRE!