A prequel to John Carpenters The Thing and so it goes by the same name and in some ways it does manage to entertain audiences like the original. It begins when Kate Lloyd a paleontologist is recruited to examine findings found by a Norwegian team under the ice of Antarctica which appears to be a frozen specimen of extra-terrestrial life, Lead scientist of the group Dr. Sander Halvorsen insists on taking a sample of the 'thing' they discover unaware that in doing so the creature awakens. After it breaks free from it's ice prison the 'Thing' goes on to attack several of the scientists and killing one before being dowsed in flames, however on learning that the creature can hypothetically imitate any life form including humans the crew begin to turn on one another and have to face off against the feeling of constant danger, isolation of their northern camp and fear that the 'Thing' could pick them off at any time.
When it comes to acting in this film and while there is some it is rather limited. The main scene grabber is Mary Elizabeth Winstead as a recruited paleontologist who, on being the audiences confidant in the story is set as the lead who discovers the ability of the 'Thing'. Compared to other films where she's taken the leading lady role here she seems pretty bland and while she'll always be super pretty, this part felt like a blip on a otherwise fairly credited film parts. The American action hero figure recently emerging Joel Edgerton plays the pilot Sam Carter who acts prodominatly as the 'Hero' in the second act mainly, taking on the creature valiantly with a flamethrower although not a stand out feature in acting his role does stand out and from the get go his character is pushed to the foreground of being the macho fighter figure of the film next to Winstead's smarts.
The only other stand out character of the film(the rest generally thrown together to be alien fodder) is Ulrich Thomsen who takes to the role of Dr. Sander Halvorson who hits home with as much charisma as a Bond villain and from the start of the film, much with the stereotypical nature of the film it's obvious he's not a cuddly and warm scientist, to be honest despite not being hidden very well as a villain of sorts his role was well performed within reason.
This film is no Aliens, The Thing feels much more like a spectacle of CGI treading in the same stream of Avatar although completely diverting the aspect of a story. While i haven't seen the original, if this was a taster i'd want to see it if only to see it's apparent superiority, yes the CGI was quite well done but the fact is the majority of films these days could throw out something similar and to be frank throw in a better plot with more interesting characters, instead of the three primary characters in this. So where does The Thing succeed? Well in a way it does entertain, despite being a blockbuster flick with little to no plot and as i said poor characters i actually have to admit it in a way i enjoyed it's blatant uncaring nature for all the things that should be there. It lacks all the things that should be present in a film of it's genre and burns them much like the creature until their out of site, leaving special effects galore and lots of left over flames. That said for seeing Aliens Vs Scientists, it's in a way more appealing than Cowboys & Aliens of the summer while being exactly the same in most areas. If you're into alien films in general this isn't the worst film I've ever seen with them nor by a long way is it remotely good example of how they should be done in honesty, however you will probably be entertained by its attempt to be a good alien horror film which in this case is as good as it gets.
6 / 10
FIN.
When it comes to acting in this film and while there is some it is rather limited. The main scene grabber is Mary Elizabeth Winstead as a recruited paleontologist who, on being the audiences confidant in the story is set as the lead who discovers the ability of the 'Thing'. Compared to other films where she's taken the leading lady role here she seems pretty bland and while she'll always be super pretty, this part felt like a blip on a otherwise fairly credited film parts. The American action hero figure recently emerging Joel Edgerton plays the pilot Sam Carter who acts prodominatly as the 'Hero' in the second act mainly, taking on the creature valiantly with a flamethrower although not a stand out feature in acting his role does stand out and from the get go his character is pushed to the foreground of being the macho fighter figure of the film next to Winstead's smarts.
The only other stand out character of the film(the rest generally thrown together to be alien fodder) is Ulrich Thomsen who takes to the role of Dr. Sander Halvorson who hits home with as much charisma as a Bond villain and from the start of the film, much with the stereotypical nature of the film it's obvious he's not a cuddly and warm scientist, to be honest despite not being hidden very well as a villain of sorts his role was well performed within reason.
This film is no Aliens, The Thing feels much more like a spectacle of CGI treading in the same stream of Avatar although completely diverting the aspect of a story. While i haven't seen the original, if this was a taster i'd want to see it if only to see it's apparent superiority, yes the CGI was quite well done but the fact is the majority of films these days could throw out something similar and to be frank throw in a better plot with more interesting characters, instead of the three primary characters in this. So where does The Thing succeed? Well in a way it does entertain, despite being a blockbuster flick with little to no plot and as i said poor characters i actually have to admit it in a way i enjoyed it's blatant uncaring nature for all the things that should be there. It lacks all the things that should be present in a film of it's genre and burns them much like the creature until their out of site, leaving special effects galore and lots of left over flames. That said for seeing Aliens Vs Scientists, it's in a way more appealing than Cowboys & Aliens of the summer while being exactly the same in most areas. If you're into alien films in general this isn't the worst film I've ever seen with them nor by a long way is it remotely good example of how they should be done in honesty, however you will probably be entertained by its attempt to be a good alien horror film which in this case is as good as it gets.
6 / 10
FIN.
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