Being a big fan of John Carpenter’s 1982 remake of THE THING, I was understandably a little nervous to hear Universal Pictures was releasing an update this year, which in fact turns out to be a prequel to the Carpenter version. If you’ve seen the 1982 film, you may remember it opens with a dog running through snowy mountain tops in Antarctica, being chased and shot at by men in a helicopter, eventually finding refuge in an American camp. The men from the helicopter end up dead for various reasons, never able to tell their side of the story. The Americans discover the helicopter (and dog apparently) came from a Norwegian camp nearby, but have no idea what led these men to the events shown in the opening. At one point the Americans (led by “MacReady”, played by Kurt Russell) even visit the Norwegian camp, only to find it decimated and no one around. They also discover what appears to be a spaceship buried in the ice. What we never see is what led up to those events – we never see how the ship was discovered, we never see what happened to the people in the Norwegian camp, and we never see what ultimately led to the helicopter chasing after that dog. Now if you’ve seen Carpenter’s THE THING, you could certainly guess what may have preceded his story, now we get to see those events play out on the big screen. The 2011 version of THE THING (directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.) is very much a prequel in every sense of the word. Supposedly Universal could not think of a different name that made sense, so they stuck with the same title. They also felt like a prequel made more sense that a straight remake, as many consider Carpenter’s version to be near-perfect.

The 2011 film opens with Norwegian explorers in the Antarctic riding the snowcaps with their plow to investigate a mysterious radio signal they keep picking up. Once right over the signal’s source, the ice buckles under the plow, which falls into a crevasse where it becomes wedged. The headlights shine down on what appears to be a spacecraft. This leads into the movie’s opening titles, which are straight out of the 1982 version. Cut to an American scientist named Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who is asked by Dr. Sander Halvorson (Ulrich Thomsen) to make a sudden trip to the Antarctic to investigate something, with zero additional details given. Seeing this as a career opportunity, Kate agrees and soon finds herself being flown into the Norwegian camp by two American helicopter pilots Braxton Carter (Joel Edgerton) and Jameson (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje). Once there they discover some sort of creature frozen in the ice, and decide to cut it out for further investigation. While celebrating their find with song and drink, the creature bursts from its icy coffin and escapes. Soon after if captures and kills one of the workers, and the rest fry it to a crisp. After performing an autopsy, Kate realizes this creature has the ability to replicate its victims, with the one exception of inorganic material (i.e. tooth fillings, earrings, etc.). But the danger is far from over, as more and more of the group are taken over by the alien, which appears capable of dividing itself, and soon the survivors wonder if any of them have any hopes of staying unaffected.

The first thing a hardcore for of John Carpenter’s classic will notice in the 2011 version of THE THING is how much the look and feel of the 1982 version is perfectly emulated, so much so that’s it’s safe to say both films will ultimately make for a nice double feature on home video. That said, the most obvious difference comes in the special effects, which make heavy use of CGI in the modern version. One of the most unsettling and effective aspects of Carpenter’s film was the incredibly icky prosthetic work of make up master Rob Bottin. When the alien took people over, Bottin’s variations of half-man half-creature created images that many have found hard to forget even after 30 years. The new film tries its best to copy the style of gore, but lacks the organic touch, which perhaps can also be blamed on 30 years of progress in special effects… we’ve essentially seen just about everything there is to see when it comes to gore effects, so unlike the 1982 classic, showing us something new and unsettling is just a near-impossible task these days. Personally, I wasn’t disappointed with the CGI gore, though I didn’t find much of it memorable either.

What does work exceptionally well is the decision to cast Mary Elizabeth Winstead in a female lead. Obviously after Kurt Russell’s hero in the 1982 version, trying to go with a male antagonist once again would have simply felt like a straightforward remake. Choosing instead to have a headstrong heroine made much more sense, and the film benefits for it. Winstead evokes a classic sensibility, reminding us instantly of a young Sigourney Weaver in ALIEN, and showing why having a female lead in a film like this can work wonders. She mixes the right amount of toughness and genuine fear with her portrayal, giving the audience a relatable and realistic lead to follow. Joel Edgerton does a good job of playing the somewhat ambiguous leading man, who despite not getting much screentime makes a good impression. He’s an actor I’ve been watching for a while, and it’s great to see him get a showcase role like this. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is also a great familiar face, echoing Keith David’s role a bit in the Carpenter version, but never just copying it. He’s always interesting to watch in movies, and the decision to include him here was a smart one. Ulrich Thomsen is only moderately creepy as the film’s antagonist, never getting a proper chance to show his ugly side, but nevertheless serving the purpose he’s there for. Audience may also recognize Eric Christian Olsen, who is sadly underused but does give us a sympathetic and relatable American figure to identify with.

The Norwegian characters are actually rather downplayed here, which is probably out of necessity, as American audiences can have a much better time following their own stereotypes that trying to keep up with a language and culture unfamiliar to them. I was curious how a film set in a Norwegian camp would work, as it would seem the language barrier would immediately be off-putting to most moviegoers. It’s thankfully adjusted more to the American characters’ point of view, which may have been the film’s smartest move.

Perhaps the only real downfall of the thing is its lack of character development and storytelling, which is something Carpenter’s version excelled with. This take concentrates more on the scares and gore, feeling a lot more like a slasher film than a sci-fi/horror tale. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, just gives it a different flavor from the 1982 classic. Many are already complaining that there’s too much CGI, to which I say get over it – we live in a day and age where elaborate make-up effects are simply too time-consuming and impractical, therefore CGI is a necessary evil. My only other real complaint was the film’s score by Marco Beltrami, who I normally have no problem with. His music here seems a little uninspired and forgettable, a definite reversal from the 1982, which has a tremendously effective score. Overall THE THING works as a loving tribute and sincere prequel to the beloved Carpenter movie, and while it doesn’t come close to surpassing it, I imagine it will make a great companion piece for it as time goes by.

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