The Thing (2011)
Matthijs van Heijningen
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Plot Summary
It’s not human. Yet. From the producers of Dawn of the Dead comes the chilling prelude to John Carpenter’s cult classic film. When paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) travels to an isolated outpost in Antarctica for the expedition of a lifetime, she joins an international team that unearths a remarkable discovery. Their elation quickly turns to fear as they realize that their experiment has freed a mysterious being from its frozen prison. Paranoia spreads like an epidemic as a creature that can mimic anything it touches will pit human against human as it tries to survive and flourish in this spine-tingling thriller.
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Movie Reviews from Rotten Tomatoes
TOMATOMETER
36%- Reviews Counted: 157
- Fresh: 56
- Rotten: 101
- Average Rating: 5.1/10
Top Critics' Reviews
Rotten: Where the earlier film pulsed with precisely calibrated paranoia and distinctly drawn characters, this inarticulate replay unfolds as mechanistically as a video game.
Rotten: Part horror film, part space thriller and all gore-fest, the movie ends up being a lot like its protagonist: a mess of a monster that stretches itself too thin to scare much.
Fresh: John Carpenter should approve of this reasonably respectful and tough-minded prequel to his 1982 The Thing.
Rotten: Like The Thing itself, the film seeks to ape the form and behavior of something genuine, but you don't need a fancy test to tell that this is a shoddy replica.
Customer Reviews
Great Movie
I'm not a harsh reviewer like a lot of other people are, and I go to see a movie just for the fun of it. And even though I'm kinda tired of remakes of old movies, I absolutely loved this one. It opens up with an amazing scene that'll get you ready for what you're about to see. Then the first 20-30 minutes are basically just introducing characters and explaining why all of them are going to Antarctica. But once the action starts up, it does not slow down (well, maybe a few times). There's many jump-scares, ones that you know are coming but you don't know exactly when they're gonna happen. The gore amount is really unique; it's not splattering on the walls (Saw movies, Hatchet, etc.), rather it is shown in some pretty cool ways (for the most part). But this movie is pretty gross, so it's not for the faint of heart. And the acting seemed top-notch to me. So if you like to watch a movie for the fun of it, definitely get this one. Buy or rent it, it's worth it.
Really people
This was an awesome prequel to The Thing. The effects, the action everything was great about this movie. The ending how it led to John Carpenters Thing was amazing. I dont know why everyone keeps saying how bad this was when it was amazing
A SUBPAR HORROR FILM IN NEED OF IMPROVEMENT
When I first saw the trailer for "The Thing", it looked almost exactly like every other predictable sci-fi horror movie out there (which it is). But since I had seen the 1982 version directed by John Carpenter, I decided I should at least give it a shot and see it for myself. What I didn't realize walking into the theatre was that it isn't actually a retelling of the cult classic, but a prequel chronicling the origin of the titular character. The filmmakers could've at least changed the title instead of keeping it as it was so that we wouldn't mistake it for a remake. But I digress. Anyway, let me talk about the flick itself. First off, it could've used plenty of improvement in a lot of areas. The performances of the ensemble cast (led by Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Edgerton) were mediocre at best, the character development was practically nonexistent at times, and the pacing of the story eventually became way too rushed and confusing to comprehend. But perhaps my biggest concern with the movie in general were its oh-so predictable fright tactics. The jump scares and "unexpected" out-of-nowhere appearances that can be found in almost every horror flick nowadays are so common in this film, you can practically see them coming before they even happen. It isn't until the mysterious alien creature becomes an integral part of the storyline, however, that things start to get sick and twisted to the point where you feel like you're watching deleted scenes from "The Human Centipede". And to be honest, those were the parts that entertained me the most. Why? Because they were actually really fun to watch and didn't take themselves so seriously. In fact, by the end of the film, as it started to pick up pace, the feeling of disgust I initially had at the beginning of the film slowly faded away. Still, I realize that "The Thing" could've been a lot better overall. If the film had just accepted itself for the cheesy, over-the-top B-movie it ended up being instead of attempting to pile on so much pointless exposition, I would've probably given it a generous four-star rating. But for as it is, I'll be lenient and give it three stars; no more, no less. Is it still worth renting? Sure, but I highly recommend that you see the 1982 version first. The quality scares in that movie are much more effective. Trust me.
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- $14.99
- Genre: Sci-Fi & Fantasy
- Released: 2011
- © 2011 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
