I have been looking forward to Matthijs van Heijningen Jr’s The Thing ever since I saw the 1982 John Carpenter film two months ago. I found the Kurt Russell classic to be gory and terrifying. It surprised me multiple times, so I was looking forward to seeing how this prequel would measure up. Turns out, The Thing (2011) is gory and scary, but is basically a remake because it hits all the same points as it’s predecessor. Don’t get me wrong, it was very entertaining and there is a lot I really enjoyed about it, it just doesn’t have the same level of fear.From the very beginning the film transports you back to 1982, but instead of using obvious tricks such as neon clothing or terrible mullets, the key is the music. I’m not talking about the pop songs, I’m referring to Marco Beltrami’s original score. It’s reminiscent of John Williams’ films of the 80s, so it really pulled me back to that era. I quite enjoyed that.
I was expecting Joel Edgerton (Warrior) to be the lead so I was a little surprised when Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim VS the World) took charge. Kate was a reluctant leader, but stepped up when no one else would. It was a natural transition and rather than being a badass, she was the girl version Kurt Russell’s character in the 1982 film. As someone trying to make sense of it all, she seems to connect most with Joel Edgerton’s character, Carter, even though there is no development of this friendship, but rather just a natural magnetism. All of the characters are very one-dimensional, but it’s so action-packed you barely notice.
Which brings me to what I liked and disliked about the film at the same time: the action. The film moves very quickly and with very little comic relief, the tension builds from scene to scene. The alien itself is very cool to see, however, after a while, it loses its scariness just because you’ve seen it already. What is it’s natural form? It’s obviously intelligent due to what is discovered, so what is its purpose?
The supporting cast boasts several Norwegians, and I was very pleasantly surprised they spoke the language and included subtitles. So often Hollywood films glaze over other languages and just 
pretend everyone speaks English. Every time a mainstream movie features another language with subtitles, it moves us closer to a time when we won’t be referring to movies as “foreign.” There are so many wonderful films in the world, but often people simply don’t want to read, so they pass by them.
What made the 1982 film so scary was how you were constantly wondering who was human and who wasn’t. In this film, you barely get a chance to contemplate before they are revealed. There were also so many characters that it was difficult to keep track of them amidst all of the action. Is this just a result of our time? I think that The Shiningis the scariest film I’ve ever seen. The reason it’s so scary is how dramatic and drawn out it is. Would this be as appreciated if it were made now? Probably not.This weekend is all about choices. You’ve got the comedy The Big Year, the absurd Footloose or The Thing. Even though I’m drawn to comedies, I never pass up good sci-fi.
Rating: Tense with lots of alien scariness. 6/10
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