Tuesday 26 June 2012

The Thing (2011) DVD Review

In the prequel to John Carpenters classic, a discovery of an alien spacecraft is found below the ice, at an Antarctica research site, inside it lies the thing. Matthijs van Heijningen Jr directs in his first feature film with the cast of Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton and Ulrich Thomsen. 

29 years after Carpenters classic horror hit, and yet again Universal felt the need to remake another classic. OK so, its not a remake but it may as well be, this film is nearly identical to Carpenters original. From the story, to the cinematography. There are even scenes taken directly from the original, with the director making a petty attempt to make them different by subtly changing one factor. The scenery and cinematography in the film are also identical to the 1982 version, both take place in a similar base, and both are filmed similarly, with a sense of loneliness forever present throughout. 

However I do appreciate that the director did attempt to make a more original film as oppose to an exact copy. Contrary to Carpenters version, this film contains a lot more gore and violence, which puts a fresh stamp on the story, offering something new to the table. Unfortunately with heavy use of gore and violence, comes the heavy use of CGI, and I mean heavy! Every time we see 'the thing' it's shrouded in a clear sheet of CGI, this becomes much more apparent towards the end of the film, where faces are added to 'the thing' and it just loses all its impact and it quickly becomes tame and unthreatening. Compare this to the original, where little CGI was used and as a result we don't see as much, which ultimately means when we do see 'the thing' its shocking and terrifying. This was partly down to the quality of CGI in the 80's but it's still pretty impressive that will always stand the test of time. 

Although I do respect Heijningen for trying to differentiate the film from the original, I think that he got a bit carried away towards the end. Without giving too much away, the ending's a bit silly and unnecessary. I feel that he was reckless with his use of CGI, like a child with a wide array of new toys, just overusing and abusing the effects. 

The acting performances are all pretty average, with no one really showing a stand out brilliant performance. The whole film almost felt half hearted in terms of acting and also story-line. 

Although this film didn't ruin the original, it did put a slight mark on it. Heijnningen attempted to create an creative and new spin on the story and in a sense succeeded, as this film is quite different to its predecessor. But the complete abuse of the use of CGI and the lazy story and acting drags the film down. Does finish on a positive note however as the film ends with a simplistic yet fitting link the to Carpenters horror classic. 

60%- Nothing like Carpenters classic, in both positive and negative ways, mostly negative however due to the abuse of CGI. 

Calum.Russell

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