The Thing (2011)
Average Rating: 5/10
Reviews Counted: 160
Fresh: 57 | Rotten: 103
It serves the bare serviceable minimum for a horror flick, but The Thing is all boo-scares and a slave to the far superior John Carpenter version.
Average Rating: 5/10
Critic Reviews: 31
Fresh: 9 | Rotten: 22
It serves the bare serviceable minimum for a horror flick, but The Thing is all boo-scares and a slave to the far superior John Carpenter version.
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Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 37,430
My Rating
Movie Info
Paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) has traveled to the desolate region for the expedition of her lifetime. Joining a Norwegian scientific team that has stumbled across an extraterrestrial ship buried in the ice, she discovers an organism that seems to have died in the crash eons ago. But it is about to wake up. When a simple experiment frees the alien from its frozen prison, Kate must join the crew's pilot, Carter (Joel Edgerton), to keep it from killing them off one at a time.
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Cast
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Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Kate Lloyd -
Joel Edgerton
Braxton Carter, Carter -
Ulrich Thomsen
Dr. Sander Halvorson -
Eric Christian Olsen
Adam Goldman, Adam Good... -
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Jameson -
Paul Braunstein
Griggs -
Trond Espen Seim
Edvard Wolner -
Kim Bubbs
Juliette -
Jørgen Langhelle
Lars -
Jan Gunnar Roise
Olav -
Stig Henrik Hoff
Peder -
Kristofer Hivju
Jonas -
Jo Adrian Haavind
Henrik -
Carsten Bjørnlund
Karl -
Jonathan Lloyd Walker
Colin -
Ole Martin Aune Nilsen
Matias (Heli Pilot) -
Michael Brown
Security Guard -
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The Thing Trailer & Photos
All Critics (160) | Top Critics (31) | Fresh (58) | Rotten (104) | DVD (2)
Efficient enough for newcomers perhaps, but never that chilling, and the predictably dull CGI underlines how far movie magic has regressed in the past couple of decades.
Top CriticThe line between homage and apery is a fine one, and The Thing teeters on it at times.
"It's big on the grotesquery but short on genuine scares."
It's not rocket science, but The Thing does offer solid cheap thrills for the slick gore crowd, proving once again: Horror doesn't have to be horrible.
John Carpenter should approve of this reasonably respectful and tough-minded prequel to his 1982 The Thing.
It's no great thing, just a better Thing than expected.
Since Heijningen already had dibs on The Thing's hallowed name, he didn't even bother trying to conjure any of its slow-burning suspense or claustrophobic vibe.
For a creature feature set on the South Pole, it lacks urgency, or even a sense that it's very cold in Antarctica.
The fact that The Thing falls flat is proof positive that unlike the film's industrious alien, parasitic remakes can't easily carbon copy the host.
It's entertaining, tense, scary as hell and certainly one of the better horror films released in recent years (but you might as well watch the original).
Gets the externals but can't duplicate the authentic chill and isolation of the original.
If this take is perfectly passable, it also is distinctly forgettable.
Can't possibly compare to the film it's inspired by, but if you've not seen the 1982 version, you should find it reasonably harmless, albeit with an increasingly daft climax.
"The Thing" is not half as good as the Carpenter film, but it has enough shocks and scares to keep you interested. And, if you see it first, then at least you have the back story for viewing the 1982 classic. Gore is good. Paul Chambers, CNN.
It does nothing better than John Carpenter's version, but it borrows and steals enough of the stuff that works from his film to carry it to some level of lowest-common-denominator entertainment.
There's nothing really new about this remake/prequel, but the film's attention to continuity and detail is respectable and interesting for fans of John Carpenter's 1982 classic.
It's a perfectly serviceable prequel that leads into John Carpenter's classic almost seamlessly. The problem here is that it's so middle of the road, it's easily forgettable.
Pointless prequel to the 1982 sci-fi/horror classic. One of the five worst films of 2011.
This is the third time I've watched the John W. Campbell Jr. story 'Who Goes There?' unfold. I have to admit the monster in this one is the most disgusting and thereby the most fascinating of all three.
Van Heijningen Jr's The Thing still works as a perfectly watchable contemporary sci-fi thriller on the surface by creating enough entertaining scares ...
There are a few tense moments, but the plot is packed full of clichés - imagine, the radio is dead and there's a storm coming!
Van Heijningen has again reinterpreted the material, he has instead done so for an era in which horror films are remade by commercials directors who get the look, but miss the feel, of the original article.
A slow hand clap for all concerned, please.
Not bad, but what Cole Porter might dismiss as just one of those things.
The themes of paranoia and isolation are the same as Carpenter's film, but the effects aren't a patch on the original.
This isn't the real Thing; keep it at bay.
Audience Reviews for The Thing
For those who have seen the original 1982 version, you would know about certain events that were left unanswered. From the Norwegian base, the two-faced corpse and the dog. This basically answers all those. So, there isn't really a strong story behind it. This is IF you have seen John Carpenter's version.
If you could only find one similarity with the original, it has to be the extreme violence and gore. Arguably, the prequel is visually more disturbing, only because of the advancements in technology. Best advice; don't have a full stomach when watching this film. When it comes to scares; they are very predictable and cheap.
There were certain lines and maybe events in the film that made the film seem more of a remake than a prequel.
With regards to acting,the attention should focus on Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who gave the most promising role in the film; proving her capability of being the protagonist. SPOILER! However, the camera was focusing on her for the majority of the film, so it was obvious that she would live.
Overall, it may not be greatest prequel to such a masterpiece. But its worth a try, eventually.
Super Reviewer
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- Kate Lloyd: Do you think that's a really good idea?
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- Kate Lloyd: Burn it!
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- Kate Lloyd: If it makes it out of here, millions of people die!
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- Kate Lloyd: Not all of us are human!
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- Kate Lloyd: Either someone miraculously healed themself... or someone is not who they say they are.
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- Kate Lloyd: Did you hear that?
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Latest News on The Thing
October 14, 2011:
Critics Consensus: Footloose is Toe-Tapping FunThis week at the movies, we've got Sunday shoes removal (Footloose, starring Kenny Wormald and...
October 10, 2011:
Matthijs van Heijningen Talks The ThingThe director discusses his remake, thawing out at theaters this weekend.
November 24, 2010:
The Thing Is Coming in October 2011After a few days in "TBD" purgatory, "The Thing" has re-emerged on Universal's release schedule, now...
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Foreign Titles
- The Thing (CA)
- La cosa (ES)
