Film The Thing (2011)

Did a search and was surprised not to see a thread on this. Anyone seen the prequel to the 82 film? I saw it this week and am curious what others think.

Personally, I'd have to give it a pretty low score. I thought the CGI was way over the top, and they completely whiffed on the paranoia that the 82 film accomplished so well. It probably doesn't help that I am a huge fan of the 82 film - I think it's one of the best horror movies ever made, and the special effects are still pretty cool even today.

I have a number of other complaints, but I might as well wait to see if anyone else has viewed it. Heh.

I didn't bother to see it because I knew there was no way it was gonna top the '82 version. It's got a 33% on Rotten Tomatoes, so I'll almost certainly not be seeing it.

MrGrunge said:

I didn't bother to see it because I knew there was no way it was gonna top the '82 version. It's got a 33% on Rotten Tomatoes, so I'll almost certainly not be seeing it.

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Yeah, I would save your money, especially if you aren't a CGI type of person. I was really interested in how they were going to tie in the prequel with what happened next in the 82 movie, and I think they even managed to screw that up some. I liked what one reviewer said - a prequel shouldn't make you question what happened in the next movie, and that's kind of what this latest version did.

I'd be hard pressed to give it that 33%.

Finally saw this late last night. As a huge fan of the original, I had to watch it.

In a universe in which Carpenter's The Thing never existed, this version would be a pretty good film. As such, though, it'll probably forever be known as "That Movie that Isn't Carpenter's The Thing". Though I thought it had one or two moments that approached the dread and nausea-inducing brilliance of the original, for the most part this movie dissolves into standard horror / action movie tropes that strip much of the fear factor away. That said, I actually did like the (very) ending, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead: Yeow.

Still, no more than three stars.

MrGrunge said:

I didn't bother to see it because I knew there was no way it was gonna top the '82 version. It's got a 33% on Rotten Tomatoes, so I'll almost certainly not be seeing it.

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Well, I have seen the movie since my original post and as far as modern sci fi goes, I actually enjoyed it more than Prometheus soooo....take that as you will.

it takes a grown man to admit he was wrong.


it takes a groan man to just infer it

I wasn't wrong - the 2011 version is nowhere near as good as JC's original. All I'm saying is that I didn't think it was as bad as Prometheus (which I thought was shit), almost exclusively due to the fact that I think Mary Elizabeth Winstead is cute as fuck. That's it, really.

Fun Fact: I have never been wrong about anything. Ever.

"ever" is not a complete sentence, but i'm not sure if that makes it wrong. will have to investigate this in the lab and get back to you. have some pie while you wait.

MrGrunge said:

I wasn't wrong - the 2011 version is nowhere near as good as JC's original. All I'm saying is that I didn't think it was as bad as Prometheus (which I thought was shit), almost exclusively due to the fact that I think Mary Elizabeth Winstead is cute as fuck. That's it, really.

Fun Fact: I have never been wrong about anything. Ever.

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i'll agree with this. the thing was formulaic, derivative and fairly boring but it never was quite as offensive in its stupidity as prometheus was.