subject: The Thing [print this page] I must confess that I have never seen the original The Thing, save for brief flashes on cable television, so I could treat the remake as an entity to itself rather than holding it to the original standard; be it good or bad. I was not expecting The Thing
to be anything but cheap thrills, and for the most part I was right, but nonetheless it turned out to be a surprisingly good watch.
The Good
Set in Antarctica, the characters are made up of a Norwegian research team who happens upon an alien and its ship frozen in the thick ice, and the American scientists who come in to excavate and study the thing. This is a perfect setting for a remote environment where the cast on screen is truly alone, especially when a harsh storm comes in and seals off any communication to close by bases.
The lead characters leave a lot to be desired, the main actress is Kate Lloyd who (spoiler alert) is one of the lone survivors and heroine of the film. Her acting is nothing special and I really never felt that emotionally connected to her, or the other American actors. Director Matthijs Heijningen (say that five times fast) highlights his fellow Norwegian actors very well and the strongest connection is made with them, even though their dialogue is limited or in subtitles.
The monster (or alien) is truly a horrific site. Appearing human for a while, but morphing and contorting the human body into disgusting proportions, the image of the thing turning into a well another thing will certainly stick with you.
The Bad
While I was expecting a horror movie, The Thing had few frightening or truly scary parts. The ones that did happen had little suspense with a clich monster bursting out of a wall with a startling fright rather than terror. The horror aspect focuses rather on the image of the Thing and its ability to take something natural (in this case the human body) and turn it into a thing of nightmares. I like being thrilled, and not knowing what is around the corner. The suspense is what kills me, not the image on the screen.
There seemed to be plot holes, or maybe I just did not pay enough attention to catch anything. Either way, it is a problem. It was never clear to me what the Norwegian team of researchers miners explorers were doing in Antarctica in the first place. Nor, why they had flame throwers and grenades, apparently the only common arsenal capable of killing the Thing since it can survive thousands of years trapped in ice. Also, apparently all it took for the Thing to escape from the ice was a 30 millimeter wide hole drilled about twelve inches down. There are more, but I grow frustrated thinking of them.
For its faults, The Thing is still a good watch. Just go into it expecting an action horror film rather than a thriller and you will be much more prepared.
