The Thing

The Gist: A group of scientists in Antarctica stumble upon a mysterious spaceship and an alien life frozen under millennia old ice.  They retrieve it to study it but will come to regret the decision.

I was under the impression that this 2011 movie was a remake of the classic John Carpenter horror from 1982.  Instead, this is a prequel to that movie and I was very impressed by how well they made it dovetail with its predecessor.

The visual effects are obviously impressive, and better than the 82’s movie, but that’s to be expected.  What I really liked was the meticulous reconstruction of the sets to make them match with what the scientists in the original movie find when they visit this camp.

The Bottom Line: If you’ve watched the original The Thing, you might think this one is unoriginal, but I actually enjoyed the thrills and admired the careful attempt not to tamper with a classic but to simply try to stand up next to it.  Personally, I believe the filmmakers succeeded.

Grade: 7