I've made no bones about disliking most remakes, reboots and do-overs when it comes to movies. This newly released prequel just shows how stupid people are. Anyone complaining about a remake should probably just stop watching movies at all. For one, this is actually a prequel, setting up Carpenter's 1982 film. And two, the 1982 version is....wait for this...a remake of 1951 sci-fi classic The Thing From Another World. So anyone claiming "the original" should be left alone should just shut up. Your precious original is in fact, a remake too. The 2011 version? A worthy addition to the franchise, one that pays homage while exploring new territory.
At a remote Antarctic research site, the predominantly Norwegian staff has made a huge discovery, some sort of foreign space ship entombed in the ice, possibly for hundreds of thousands of years. The doctor in charge, Dr. Halvorson (Ulrich Thomsen), calls in a specialist, a paleontologist, Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), to help examine the frozen creature specimen found in the ice. Before the examination can take place though, the supposedly dead creature comes to life, putting everyone's life at risk. What is it? What is it capable of? Kate is the first to come up with an explanation as the body count rises. The alien can replicate itself as a source, posing as any living thing. Paranoia sets in with nowhere to go. The alien could be anyone and everyone. Can those uninfected individuals find out who is and isn't still human in time?
This is officially a prequel, but there is of course similarities between the movies, similar characters, story arc, that sort of thing. It would be nearly impossible for the two movies to be at least a little alike. What is good about director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.'s prequel is that it does pay homage to Carpenter's version but goes down a different route about the halfway point. It reverts back to more of a monster chase movie, survivors trying to defeat this unknown creature. That may be the biggest difference; the creature is shown clearly in a variety of incarnations, one of them creepier than the others. Other nice touches? Ennio Morricone's original theme (listen HERE) is used with composer Marco Beltrami tweaking the rest of the score, a perfect mood and tension setter. The look of the movie is right, down to a long list of continuity jumps and connections that any fan of Carpenter's film will appreciate.
What I think any viewer will be able to appreciate is more than just the shocking and surprising scares, the ones that are meant to make you jump, to flinch while watching. At its base, the story is built around fear and paranoia of not being able to trust anyone around you. Winstead's Lloyd pieces things together, putting clues together that should reveal if 'the Thing' has taken over any more people. Even close friends and co-workers could have turned, been infected and it is nearly impossible to tell. That ultimate fear, that terror is magnified at this remote research site. There's nowhere to go so the problem is there waiting to be dealt with. Some of the movie's most tense moments rely on that premise. When survival is the goal, you'll turn on anyone who is standing in your way.
Like the 1982 version, the 2011 prequel has a solid ensemble cast with a few standouts. Winstead especially is a strong lead. A female lead in a horror movie dominated by a male cast might sound like it's out of left field, but she's great in the part, a smart, clear-thinking leader in the most trying of times. Thomsen too is impressive, the doctor blinded by his find and its possible ramifications in fame and riches even as his crew gets knocked off one by one. Eric Christian Olsen plays Adam, Halvorson's assistant who has a long working friendship/relationship with Kate. The coolest characters though belong to Joel Edgerton as Carter, the chopper pilot clearly channeling Kurt Russell's MacReady, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as his co-pilot, Jameson. Of the rest of the Norwegian crew, Jorgen Langhelle stands out the most as Lars, the non-English speaking grunt worker. The remaining cast members are exclusively Norwegian actors, most of them not around long enough to make an impression other than as Thing-food.
The monster/alien vs. human angle is played up more in the second half of the movie, much more than Carpenter's telling. As one reviewer so eloquently and appropriately put it, "The flamethrower action has been ratcheted up 10 or 12 notches." Some good surprises, some heavy creature gore and violence, and a story full of tension.
What will work the best for fans of Carpenter's film is the ending to the prequel. Anyone who has seen Carpenter's 1982 film knows and remembers the striking, startling opening sequence. So it's natural to assume this prequel has to connect the two movies, and let me say, does it ever. Even knowing it's coming, the ending of the movie is a whale of a finish, one of the great connecting transitions I can think of in a movie. As for some of the characters, it leaves it up to your imagination to decide exactly how things went down. All I can...when the credits start to roll keep your butt in the seat. Is the movie as good as 1982's The Thing? Nope, but it does it justice and then some.
The Thing <---trailer (2011): ***/****
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