Film review: The Thing (2011), directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
A prequel to the John Carpenter classic by the same name, The Thing takes place in frozen Antarctica in 1982, where a Norwegian team find something in the ice: an alien spaceship – and a frozen body. Dr Halvorson (Ulrich Thomsen) recruits palaeontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) to help investigate the thing further.
The thing is contained in a big block of ice, but later that night it breaks out and starts eating people, and take over their bodies so that you can never be too sure if someone’s a homicidal alien out to get you, or a friend.
Blood, guts, screaming and gore ensue.
Also starring Joel Edgerton as Sam Carter, Eric Christian Olsen as Adam Finch, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Derek Jameson, Paul Braunstein as Griggs, Trond Espen Seim as Edvard Wolner, and Kim Bubbs as Juliette.
I’ve not seen the original film The Thing, and I am not planning to. Mr T gave me a run-down of how it begins. It sounds like it’s the same as this, more or less: Antarctic research base, an alien parasite is introduced which then proceeds to killing people and taking over their bodies. All the while, they’re cut off from the outside world by storms and the fact they’re in Antarctica, and there’s not much out there aside from snow and ice.
If you’re into monster movies, this is probably a good film. It’s not a bad film, even though this is not my cup of tea. The Norwegians were actually genuinely Norwegian, thank goodness, the effects were good and the claustrophobia of being stuck in the middle of nowhere in -50°C is definitely there. Everything else is basically people trying to survive, fight for their lives, and fight with each other because WHO KNOWS WHO IS A HUMAN AND WHO HAS BEEN THINGIFIED?!
It’s like that X-Files episode, Ice (1X08), and I’d pick The X-Files over this any day. Even though The Thing is a well-made film. It’s just that Mulder and Scully are more interesting as characters. And they lived to make eight more seasons.
Do you like screaming and people being torn apart by monsters? No? Skip this film. Like that sort of thing? Go right ahead and enjoy it. I’ll stick to my X-Files collection, thanks.
3 out of 5 helicopters.
