The Thing 2011

[That guy 10]

another "review" of the movie. its a bit lengthy

[dmarkwick 261]

I saw it. I kind of liked it :) mostly.

I say mostly, there are a couple of things that I didn't like.

1. The spaceship. Apparently it's fully working and undamaged. So why does the alien freeze after leaving it? At the end of this movie it runs straight back to it and starts to reactivate it. Dullwitted.

2. Why does every film absolutely have to have some "face" to hate? A main protagonist that gets his comeuppance? The head scientist was clearly a prick, and "the baddie". The original Thing film had no such obvious "baddie" guy that must get his comeuppance, but this one does for some reason. Even to the extent that his face appears on the front of the final monster, just to make that point clear. Even though the Thing creature is now an alien being, the scientist's face appears on the front of it to make the point that it is two baddies in one. Dullwitted.

However, those two issues aside I can forgive a lot of the other stuff. I wish they'd had the guts to go for a full Norwegian cast though. Felt a bit artificial crowbarring in some Americans simply to get seats in theatres.

I was however pleased to see

that the film ended with two Norwegians in a helicopter chasing a dog

:)

Edited December 7, 2011 by DMarkwick

[max power 21]

I saw it. I kind of liked it :) mostly.

I say mostly, there are a couple of things that I didn't like.

I think I would have watched it, been minorly amused by it, then forgotten all about it if it hadn't been for the first one.

1. The spaceship. Apparently it's fully working and undamaged. So why does the alien freeze after leaving it? At the end of this movie it runs straight back to it and starts to reactivate it. Dullwitted.

I guess it forgot its parka? This was indeed completely idiotic.

2. Why does every film absolutely have to have some "face" to hate? A main protagonist that gets his comeuppance? The head scientist was clearly a prick, and "the baddie". The original Thing film had no such obvious "baddie" guy that must get his comeuppance, but this one does for some reason. Even to the extent that his face appears on the front of the final monster, just to make that point clear. Even though the Thing creature is now an alien being, the scientist's face appears on the front of it to make the point that it is two baddies in one. Dullwitted.

I think they were setting the stage up for the horrific and mysterious visual of the man with the slit throat and bloodcicles running out of his slit wrists. In the original movie, the implication is that something really bad happened, but the wounds are done in such a way as to make you wonder if a man could possibly do that to himself, or if he had help. And, if he could do that to himself, what terror could prompt a man to half decapitate himself with a razor in terror or defiance? When wondering what happened to that man, regret or self hatred never crossed my mind. I think distilling the issue down to one of regret really takes the punch out of the scene, and it is a totally unsatisfactory explanation to a very serious visual. The same goes for just about every scene in that movie.

However, those two issues aside I can forgive a lot of the other stuff. I wish they'd had the guts to go for a full Norwegian cast though. Felt a bit artificial crowbarring in some Americns simply to get seats in theatres.

I also wish they had not included the Americans. I also wish

they had not implied her survival

I was however pleased to see

that the film ended with two Norwegians in a helicopter chasing a dog :)

It's a shame the dog looked nothing like Jed (the wolf/malamute cross that played the alien dog)

[dmarkwick 261]

I think they were setting the stage up for the horrific and mysterious visual of the man with the slit throat and bloodcicles running out of his slit wrists. In the original movie, the implication is that something really bad happened, but the wounds are done in such a way as to make you wonder if a man could possibly do that to himself, or if he had help. And, if he could do that to himself, what terror could prompt a man to half decapitate himself with a razor in terror or defiance? When wondering what happened to that man, regret or self hatred never crossed my mind. I think distilling the issue down to one of regret really takes the punch out of the scene, and it is a totally unsatisfactory explanation to a very serious visual. The same goes for just about every scene in that movie.

I didn't get that vibe at all. I assumed it was terror that made him do it, I think maybe you misread or didn't remember that guy cowering in that room, looking at the walls & practically jumping at every shadow.

[max power 21]

I didn't get that vibe at all. I assumed it was terror that made him do it, I think maybe you misread or didn't remember that guy cowering in that room, looking at the walls & practically jumping at every shadow.

Perhaps my memory of it is a little vague now.

was it the head scientist that slit his own wrists or the guy that looked exactly like him?

[bangtail 0]

I saw it. I kind of liked it :) mostly.

I say mostly, there are a couple of things that I didn't like.

1. The spaceship. Apparently it's fully working and undamaged. So why does the alien freeze after leaving it? At the end of this movie it runs straight back to it and starts to reactivate it. Dullwitted.

2. Why does every film absolutely have to have some "face" to hate? A main protagonist that gets his comeuppance? The head scientist was clearly a prick, and "the baddie". The original Thing film had no such obvious "baddie" guy that must get his comeuppance, but this one does for some reason. Even to the extent that his face appears on the front of the final monster, just to make that point clear. Even though the Thing creature is now an alien being, the scientist's face appears on the front of it to make the point that it is two baddies in one. Dullwitted.

However, those two issues aside I can forgive a lot of the other stuff. I wish they'd had the guts to go for a full Norwegian cast though. Felt a bit artificial crowbarring in some Americans simply to get seats in theatres.

I was however pleased to see

that the film ended with two Norwegians in a helicopter chasing a dog

:)

Same, I went into it with seriously low expectations. It actually took a friend of mine repeatedly telling me that it wasn't that bad to finally convince me to watch it.

I was pretty pleased with it.

Sure there are some bits and pieces that could have been better but it was pretty obvious that this was an effort made by people who liked the first movie.

I think the only thing I really hated was when she went into the Ship near the end. That could have been left on the cutting room floor IMHO.

[dmarkwick 261]

Perhaps my memory of it is a little vague now.

was it the head scientist that slit his own wrists or the guy that looked exactly like him?

Nah it was his sidekick :)

---------- Post added at 09:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:44 AM ----------

Same, I went into it with seriously low expectations. It actually took a friend of mine repeatedly telling me that it wasn't that bad to finally convince me to watch it.

I was pretty pleased with it.

Sure there are some bits and pieces that could have been better but it was pretty obvious that this was an effort made by people who liked the first movie.

I think the only thing I really hated was when she went into the Ship near the end. That could have been left on the cutting room floor IMHO.

That whole spaceship thing was mismanaged. Should have been a decayed wreck, could have been a spooky part of the movie if the inside absolutely had to be featured. But, I wonder why they didn't blow it up like it portrayed in the first movie.

[bangtail 0]

Nah it was his sidekick :)

---------- Post added at 09:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:44 AM ----------

That whole spaceship thing was mismanaged. Should have been a decayed wreck, could have been a spooky part of the movie if the inside absolutely had to be featured. But, I wonder why they didn't blow it up like it portrayed in the first movie.

Exactly, the whole 'shiny surface, colored lights' thing was so cliche and completely unnecessary. They could have handled it in an 'Alien' type way (when they find the ship on LV-426).

[MF_Washburn 1]

I can't see the promotional poster!:(

[dmarkwick 261]

Exactly, the whole 'shiny surface, colored lights' thing was so cliche and completely unnecessary. They could have handled it in an 'Alien' type way (when they find the ship on LV-426).

After having read a quote from the director, I kind of understand why they did this. They made the decision that a few thermite charges could not uncover such a huge area of ice, so they made the branching decision that the engine startup would be responsible. If you think about it, the engines start up, then stop, then over the next 24 hours the heat melted the (thinner) ice in time for the American crew to get there. I feel *somewhat* more relaxed about that part now :)

It could still have been done better... but meh. Almost anything can be done better :)

[max power 21]

After having read a quote from the director, I kind of understand why they did this. They made the decision that a few thermite charges could not uncover such a huge area of ice, so they made the branching decision that the engine startup would be responsible. If you think about it, the engines start up, then stop, then over the next 24 hours the heat melted the (thinner) ice in time for the American crew to get there. I feel *somewhat* more relaxed about that part now :)

It could still have been done better... but meh. Almost anything can be done better :)

I think that's a film making cop out. It's over analyzing the CLEAR insinuation that the digging was done by the Norwegians. They just couldn't think of a plot that was exciting enough or plausible enough that incorporated the discovery of an alien spacecraft and life form. The opening and closing fins on the spacecraft were clearly retarded. However, I did quite enjoy the special effects inside the ship.

[jeza 5415]

Watched it the other day, prefer the original, but for this one was average at best , it made me :811: in places and in others.

[max power 21]

I thought I would share this review. It's certainly not completely inarguable but it sums up my feelings quite nicely:

http://multiglom.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/six-reasons-thing-prequel-is-better.html

[PELHAM 10]

I thought I would share this review. It's certainly not completely inarguable but it sums up my feelings quite nicely:

http://multiglom.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/six-reasons-thing-prequel-is-better.html

What a great review! This SciFi = 'must have Ellen Ripley character' rule stops me watching any of it now. It's so contrived. Why the original was so good was the stress and the tension it portrayed because of the hidden monster among them.

[jakerod 254]

I thought I would share this review. It's certainly not completely inarguable but it sums up my feelings quite nicely:

http://multiglom.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/six-reasons-thing-prequel-is-better.html

My sarcasm detector is going off the charts.

[sanctuary 19]

And that's what was missing in the 1982 film - I don't think you ever got properly introduced to those guys, they never ever actually said Hi, I'm a chopper pilot, or Hi, I'm a dog handler, or a geologist, or radio operator or whatever; you just see them doing whatever it is they do, so that's probably a bit hard for audiences to grasp, they need to be told stuff like that, over and over again. And you definitely need to know I'm a palaeontologist, because otherwise you might mistake me for a schoolgirl. Yes, I'm that young. Hey, I could almost be just out of kindergarten! But be thankful you've got me instead of some old woman who might be better qualified and have more field experience, but who hey, wouldn't be nearly as HOT and appeal to the young male demographic.

:D

Excellent

[mrcash2009 0]

That review was perfect :)

Apart from The Hobbit, The new batman film, and maybe the alien prequel ... nothing in cinema interests me these days. I did love the explanation of ADD kids running around and people talking, I had a similar experience watching "Hero" some time back with a large girl stuffing popcorn in front laughing at the "funny accents" .... hmmmm. :mad:

Anyway, off topic, but yes a good review that sums it up real well.

[dmarkwick 261]

From that review site I was linked to a short story called "My Day By Jones" and tells the story of Alien from the cat's view. Very short, but quite funny :) if you like cats ;)