The Thing (2011)

Title: The Thing

Series: The Thing

Director: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.

Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, and Ulrich Thomsen

Rated: R

Released: 2011

Personal Rating: 4/5

Oscars: None

Basic Plot: At an Antarctica research site, the discovery of an alien craft leads to a confrontation between graduate student Kate Lloyd and scientist Dr. Sander Halvorson.

The Prequel Vs. The Original
I LOVE John Carpenter's The Thing. It is one of the VERY few horror movies that scared me. This prequel scared me, but in a different way. The original was fueled by paranoia and there was hardly any action (the fighting kind of action, at least). The prequel has much more action than the original. I love both movies, but the original is better than the prequel. This isn't to say to not see the prequel. It is a good movie on its own merits.

The Alien Ship
This was, by far, one of the best parts of the movie. Seeing the alien ship was just a 'wow' moment. Unfortunately, the 'Tetris version' was the one released for theaters. Reading about the 'Pilot version' made me wish I could see that version of the ship. The tetris thing made no fucking sense. I was actually waiting for Daftpunk to start playing. However, the action that happens there is enough to make up for that one moment.

Appearance of The Thing
The Thing is shown to look awesome! People have complained about it appearing too much (but I go with the group that points out The Thing has just woken up) but the look is good. However, going with less CGI would've been better. There are lots of points where it looks like The Thing is from a video game (specifically Dead Space).

Final Thoughts
One of the main questions that people asked (myself included) was if this was a remake or a prequel. Even after the question was answered, people were still asking. There should've been a subtitle for this. Hell, The Thing: THIS IS NOT A REMAKE would've worked. I like this movie. Even though it isn't as good as the original, that's no reason to hate it.