The Thing

R

Released Oct 14, 2011

1 hr. 43 min.

Horror

Sci-Fi

Mystery & Thriller

List

34%

174 Reviews

Tomatometer

42%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

After Norwegian researchers discover an alien ship buried in the ice, paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) joins the team at the isolated Arctic outpost to investigate. She finds an organism that appears to have perished in the crash eons ago but, in fact, is about to awake. Freed from its icy prison, the insidious life-form goes on the attack. Paranoia spreads like wildfire among the crew as they fight to survive against a creature that assumes the shapes of its victims.

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Critics Consensus

It serves the bare serviceable minimum for a horror flick, but The Thing is all boo-scares and a slave to the far superior John Carpenter version.

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prawnda s

this deserves a fair shake. as some of the other reviews mention: many people may have confused this as a remake when it's actually a prequel. the cgi is not that great, and it would have been nice to see some practical effects to honor carpenter's original work, but theres basically nothing wrong with this film. it's important to remember that the dialogue and cinematography in the original was not that perfect, so i really just see this as a generational equivalent. the cgi doesnt bother me so long as i'm entertained, and it's not kinetically off from the live action character's movements. it looks a little fake because cgi was not great at the time in general, but it works just fine, and some parts actually look pretty solid.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

04/13/24

Full Review

Lennon B

What most people don't realize is that this film is a prequel to the 1982 film. While not even coming close to the John Carpenter Masterpiece, I feel this film has its own unique charm going for it. There is definitely a tone and mood this film has. Nothing disrespected the original lore of Carpenter's alien and was careful to not expand on it too much. It's a fun watch and a good addition to the franchise.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/29/24

Full Review

g j

Never really got the hate for this. I think its a really well-crafted love letter to the Carpenter film. Its not a masterpiece, but its pretty solid.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/28/24

Full Review

ThaMago L

I know its not The best Movie, but i just love monster/alien movies, so i Enjoy it very mutch, and im Norwegian so that helps to

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/15/24

Full Review

Shay C

It's a bad horror movie... But that's what I'm in the mood for. So, it's pretty good.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/08/24

Full Review

wade w

One word to describe this movie is Meh. If you are fan of the original then this movie would probably entertain you but with horrible CGI moments and useless characters to be shortly killed off. The only thing I will praise is the plot twist which is one of my personal favorites and did not see coming from clever marketing tricks and small details. You should really only watch this if you are a really big horror movie and the thing fan.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/14/24

Full Review

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Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.

Director

Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Dr. Kate Lloyd

Joel Edgerton

Carter

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Jameson

Trond Espen Seim

Edvard Wolner

Ulrich Thomsen

Dr. Sander Halvorson

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The Thing: Official Clip - The Thing Reveals Itself

2:33

The Thing: Official Clip - Everything's Fine

2:22

The Thing: Official Clip - Juliette Transforms

2:39

The Thing: Official Clip - Alien Autopsy

2:35

The Thing: Official Clip - Let's See Your Teeth

2:58

The Thing: Official Clip - How I Knew You Were Human

2:15

The Thing: Official Clip - Kate Confronts the Thing

2:52

The Thing: Official Clip - They Killed Lars!

1:33

The Thing: Official Clip - Trapped in the Kitchen

2:49

The Thing: Official Clip - We Find It, We Kill It

2:30

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Sara Michelle Fetters

MovieFreak.com

It reduces things to nothing more than a highlight reel of terror, none of it particularly scary even if what is being presented is done so with a fair amount of skill.

Rated: 2/4

Jan 27, 2012

Full Review

Charlotte O'Sullivan

London Evening Standard

This isn't the real Thing; keep it at bay.

Rated: 2/5

Dec 2, 2011

Full Review

Phelim O'Neill

Guardian

Whatever good intentions were behind this prequel to John Carpenter's 1982 classic, the sloppy execution renders them moot.

Rated: 2/5

Dec 1, 2011

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

It’s actually a prequel to the 1982 movie, leading one to wonder why they didn’t more accurately name it The Thing: The Beginning, The Thing: The Early Days or even I Was a Teenage Thing.

Rated: 2/4

Apr 27, 2023

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Van Heijningen’s new film can’t decide if it wants to elaborate on Carpenter’s version or pay homage to it, and that indecision is where the fault lies.

Rated: 2/4

Mar 7, 2023

Full Review

Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

This prequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 horror classic manages to capture enough of the shocks and paranoia of its predecessor to be successful.

Rated: 3/5

Aug 25, 2022

Full Review

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Synopsis

After Norwegian researchers discover an alien ship buried in the ice, paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) joins the team at the isolated Arctic outpost to investigate. She finds an organism that appears to have perished in the crash eons ago but, in fact, is about to awake. Freed from its icy prison, the insidious life-form goes on the attack. Paranoia spreads like wildfire among the crew as they fight to survive against a creature that assumes the shapes of its victims.

Director: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
Executive Producer: J. Miles Dale, David Foster, Lawrence Turman, Gabrielle Neimand
Screenwriter: Eric Heisserer
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: Strike Entertainment
Rating: R (Gore|Disturbing Images|Language|Strong Creature Violence)
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 14, 2011, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 10, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $16.9M
Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby SRD, DTS

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