Cory Johnson
Staff Writer
Three decades ago, on a continent 10,000 miles away, the battle between man and alien raged on.
“The Thing” (2011), a prequel to the 1982 movie of the same name, is a special effects, flamethrower fight to the death that is actually scary but, like most prequels, doesn’t hold a candle to the original.
This prequel to a fantastic ’80s thriller functions like most modern horror: random, convenient discovery, mishap and survival.
The movie opens on Antarctica in the winter of 1982. There is nothing around except for the snow, mountains, a lone rover carrying three burly Norwegians. One tells a lewd – and hysterical – joke to the driver while another navigates. They cross the ice valleys of the continent in search of a signal.
When they reach their destination, their rover falls into thin ice, and they uncover a crevasse with a large metal structure in it.
Title. Smash cut. Exposition.
Lame dialogue and clumsy editing maximize the opening sequence. The protagonist – cold-weather archeologist Kate (played by Ramona Flowers’ actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead) – is clearly presented by her blatant ignorance and American nationality, in contrast to the mechanical, ominous, Norwegian Dr. Sander Halvorson and his research assistant Adam (played by James Marsden look-alike Eric Christian Olsen).
Not that there is anything wrong with Norwegians, but this is a prequel to an ’80s movie, so any “alien” of any sort has a stigma attached to them.
Smash cut. Antarctica.
Halvorson is the leader of a research base in Antarctica, and it was his rover that found the structure – a large ice-submerged spaceship – and something else: its pilot.
Clumsy dialogue. Useless scenes. Excavation. Nighttime.
As expected, the alien escapes, but some science fiction and the grizzly Europeans hunt down the monster. But this is where the story gets good – they kill it.
From then on, the only way to know what ultimately happens is if you’ve seen the original, but even then the progression of the movie is still frightening.
As promised, there are flamethrowers – which maintain a level of awesome all their own – but the real fun comes in on the special effects. Good ol’-fashioned blood and guts make an appearance, which gives authenticity to the otherwise poorly directed acting.
Tangible, gooey parts invite the audience into the horror of the movie before smacking them in the face with CGI. This tactic makes it all more real.
Lab scene. Stiff acting. Act two.
This movie is frightening. As far as horror movies go, the slasher-esque take to this movie complements its overlying science-fiction feel. The purpose of the killer is clear, and its methods are uncanny and gruesome, which makes it terrifying every time it appears. Every jump tactic works. Every thrill wins.
The movie has the scares down well, and its horror logic is sound, but that is because it has great source material.
Though this is a prequel, it is in many aspects the same as its 1982 predecessor. Both things have the same themes. While the themes posed by isolated distrust and rational and irrational fear had a more universal and weighted message in the 80s – especially with the Europeans – now it seems trite.
It’s all correct: symbols of fire in juxtaposition to the scientist, aliens, humans and logic. But the way it is presented today is nothing new and without the cultural impact that it could have had then.
Serial killings. Spaceship. Twist.
The most genius part of this movie comes at the end, where it leads directly into the original movie. The recreation of the scene isn’t the magic, it’s the fact that one could sit through the entire movie thinking it was something else.
It could have been an alternate reality like “Star Trek,” with allusions thrown in for fans of the original. It could have been a liberal interpretation like “The Scarlett Letter,” with a female lead that doesn’t bathe too much. It could have been another “Halloween” slasher – same place, different time, horror movie, kill them all.
But with the final montage of this film, everything falls into place. Shot after shot not only chronicles the horror of what just happened, but what is going to happen, and in the bang of a sniper rifle from a low-flying helicopter the audience realizes they’ve been “Star Wars-ed” – slightly disappointed, but still satisfied with the ride.
All in all, it’s a scary horror flick, but an average movie. The themes are present and well-presented, but are only shadows of their source material that has more depth since it starts where this movie leaves off (in the past).
“The Thing” (2011) is worth one viewing, either at the theater or at a home with an excellent entertainment system.