In the never ending debate on “should that movie have been re-made?” The Thing is a valid contender for the most perplexing. I went into this thinking it was going to be a remake of the JC version. I view John Carpenter as one of, if not the greatest director of movies ever. Granted he did not direct the original, but he came along in the early 80’s and made the story his own with HIS remake. The movie, “The Thing from Another World” came out in the 1950’s. For the time it was fairly cutting edge, great story and pretty cool special effects. Then Carpenters version in wiped the floor with it. Now what was this 2009 version going to add to the story? Read on …
THE PLOT
This one seems to have paid homage to Carpenter with the use of very similar music to the Carpenter’s film. The movie opens up in the Artic base research facility similarly to the first. This movie serves as a prequel to the 1982 version, taking place within the Norwegian camp. I think it seeks to mimic the 1980’s version but beat it with superior camera work, plot development and special effects.
The scientists find a strange body trapped in ice and start running tests on it. I feel the directors added a little to the plot, the passing of almost 30 years has also allowed greater special effects progressions to make a much cooler monster. Despite the team behind this doing an admirable job they couldn’t replicate what John Carpenter did, or the atmosphere he created. The man was a creative genius not only behind the camera but also in composing the soundtrack to this film.
THE VERDICT ON THE THING
The plot although a prequel, is similar enough to Carpenter’s version. And look, this is an OK version of the film. In fact it’s pretty good. I just don’t know if there was any reason to try and top it predecessor. For those that haven’t seen the original this will be a good watch. For those that have its still cool to see another chapter of the story. Though its a bit harder to maintain the suspense as we already know what happens to the group of scientists.
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