The Thing [2011]

John Carpenter’s 1982 film “The Thing” was a remake of “The Thing from Another World”, released in 1951. Both movies are classics. Now Hollywood has blessed us with yet another remake (or prequel), this time starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Kate Lloyd, a paleontologist recruited by renowned scientist Dr. Sander Halvorson (Ulrich Thomsen) to accompany him on a trip to the Antarctic in the winter of 1982. Three other Americans  are aboard a helicopter to the Norwegian base camp, near where a strange aircraft, thought to be of alien origin, has been discovered. So far so good. Then things go horribly wrong for the crew members when the creature somehow comes to life and starts attacking the men. I admit: The movie is solid in its earliest scenes, especially when we first get to meet our alien specimen. From then on, I was fully prepared to follow this new version of “The Thing”, directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. As it turns out, the movie fails to reach the height of its predecessors- hell it doesn’t even come close- despite a few good scenes. The film’s biggest problem is that the filmmakers are more interested in crafting an action-packed monster movie, rather than something similar to Carpenter’s version. It doesn’t sound like a bad idea at first, but when the action becomes repetitive and dull, you know the film’s in trouble.

Overall, I didn’t quite hate this new version of “The Thing”, but I wasn’t impressed either. It has some good moments, but mostly, it’s garbage (the kind that will probably fade from memory very quickly).

Rating: 2/4