Some are calling it a prequel remake.
It is set in 1982 and for the first 20 mins I was hopeful that this might stand alongside the original. There were hints of Carpenter's score and a good autopsy scene, as well as first reveal of the creature.
But it is all downhill from the "helicopter scene" where the creature has taken over a chap sitting in a helicopter.
The effects are awful. What made the original a classic is a real sense of tension as well as Rob Bottin's classic practical effects. This picture relies far too much on completely unconvincing CGI which makes it look like a PS3 game when the alien cuts loose from its human host. We're not scared, we're disappointed at the ropey graphics.
The FX in the '82 original look better than this! They should have used more practical FX and augmented them slightly with some CGI.
The film is also not scary enough. Hardly any tension or sense of caring for these Norwegian scientists. Admittedly I go into a film like this wanting to be scared and looking for the cool ways the creature might materialise. None of that happened. In the original there is the classic "head spider" scene as well as the "arm eating stomach" moment! Nothing like that to compare here.
Things that did work- I liked the bi-lingual nature of the film, making the Americans more outsiders, and allowed for comments from the Norwegians that they wouldn't understand (but subtitled for us.)
I liked the "filling" scene and the whole story thread that the alien can only replicate organic tissue, so it wouldn't have fillings, metal leg pins, earrings etc.
The end title segue into the original was well done, and made me want to re-watch the far superior original.
Which I will do soon. On blu ray. In the dark. With the heating off, and a synthesizer nearby.
The Thing then is a disappointing 2 stars out of 5
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