The first two reviews for The Thing - the prequel to John Carpenter's film of the same title - have hit the web (one of which is on Rotten Tomatoes right now). The first review, courtesy of Cinema Autopsy, isn't exactly THAT positive, but RT considers it 'fresh' anyways. The second review, which is by The Vine, is definitely more negative than positive. To keep an eye out on RT's Tomatometer, which ranks the reviews for the film, click the link below.
From Cinema Autopsy:
While the basic narrative structure, mood and atmosphere closely resemble the 1982 film, its production design and claustrophobic action sequences suggest Aliens was also a significant influence. The first act is very close to the first act of The Thing from Another World (Christian Nyby and Howard Hawks, 1951), the first film to be adapted from the novella Who Goes There? by John W Campbell, Jr. All three of these horror/science-fictions have reflected the period they were made in and while strong arguments can be made for why both the 1951 and the 1982 films could be considered the best of the bunch, the 2011 one is not a contender. However, there is still much to admire about it.
So while The Thing from Another World reflected Cold War paranoia and a science fiction meets 1950s monster aesthetic, and Carpenter’s The Thing had the mix of brilliant special effects with its bleak outlook on the future of humanity post-Vietnam and pre-AIDS, what does this new film say about 2011? There’s a vaguely anti-exploitation theme and some nods to psychoanalysis (the film has a curious oral fixation), but ultimately this is a film going through the motions, albeit with some of those motions being very entertaining. Sadly it seems to suggest that overall our current era is defined by very little as we all too easily settle for artifice, distraction and minimal sub-text rather than something of real substance. A large part of the audience for this film probably won’t care about the dominance of CGI effects, as that is what they have grown up experiencing and don’t consider it to be empty spectacle, but that doesn’t make it any better. Like the alien creature that should have been left buried in the snow, this 2011 film is initially a convincing replication of the real thing, but it eventually all comes undone.
Rating: 3/5
From The Vine:
To be positive for a moment, the various body horror effects around the alien’s shape-shifting abilities are pretty nasty to behold. There’s a fair amount of messed-up alien/human creature action here, and while it’s not exactly original – long-time David Cronenberg fans won’t see much new here – it’s not something recent horror films have focused on either.
Things don’t exactly improve when this turns into a straight-forward battle against alien creatures, and the ending takes what started out as a claustrophobic tale of paranoia and turns it into a D-grade action blockbuster. Trading almost entirely on the goodwill generated by the 1982 version, this lacks wit, decent performances or any real sense of menace. Relying almost entirely on special effects for the few scares it does have, it’s the kind of uninspired remake that kills franchises stone dead.
Rating: 2/5
Will you still see
The Thing, regardless of what the reviews suggest? Be sure to sound off your thoughts below in the usual place.
The Thing hits theaters this Friday.
About The Author:
Christian, former CBM editor, movie watcher, music listener, comic nerd.
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