The Thing

Director: Matthijs van Heijningen
Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Edgerton.
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Runtime: 103 mins. Reviewed in Nov 2011

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Rating notes: very strong horror violence

In the early 1950s, The Thing (The Thing from Another World) was early science fiction, B-Budget and story, an introduction to the theme of hostile aliens invading Earth with no good intentions towards humans. It became something of a cult classic.

In the early 1980s, The Thing was remade by John Carpenter with a bigger cast, led by Kurt Russell, and a bigger budget, especially for the ugly and hostile aliens and their vicious attacks. Carpenter had a big reputation at the time and his version of The Thing is highly regarded.

In 2011 (is the spacing of thirty years for each version significant?), the new The Thing is not so much a remake but a prequel, set at the very time in 1982 that Carpenter’s film was ready for release. While the cast is not quite the A list, the budget certainly is and there is no slouching with special effects for the horrors perpetrated by the thing as it takes over the humans and distorts their features as well as revealing its frighteningly ugly self. Joel Edgerton is a helicopter pilot. Ulrich Thomsen is a relentless scientist.

But, in the early 1980s, one of the most famous of the alien films, Alien itself, was popular as was Sigourney Weaver as the tough leader and survivor, Ripley. In this version, a similar heroine, Mary Elizabeth Winstead who is not quite a match for Sigourney Weaver, takes charge.

Actually, the plot is fairly straightforward. Scientists in Antarctica discover a space ship and its monstrous creature. Another group of scientists arrive to investigate. Gradually, the thing begins to take over and absorb the scientists and the ground crew. The rest struggle to defeat the thing and to survive (most of them unsuccessfully).

While the material is familiar, it is offered with some zest and panache and should satisfy fans without necessarily threatening the reputation of the previous versions of The Thing. Thirty more years for the next version!