The 1982 john Carpenter’s “The thing’s” prequel pretty much explains to us the origin of the “Assimilator alien”. For those who a stranger to the 1982’s version, the storyline is basically about stranded scientists battling for their lives against an unknown life form which “absorbs” their prey and later imitates them. The “assimilated” prey later infiltrates the camp causing a terrible case of paranoia within the group. Even thought John Carpenter’s version was a remake from the 1951’s “The Thing from another world”, but his version was more accurately adapted from the book “Who goes there?” by John W. Campbell Jr. It became an instant classic. Sub-zero temperature, paranoia and claustrophobia, the three ingredients really mixed well for this cult classic.
As for the 2011 version, it tells us about the first discovery of the dreaded alien, trapped in the ice. Just like any other alien related sci-fi flicks, curiosity always kills the scientists. As a die-hard fan of this genre, I tried to look past the fact that the core storyline pretty much the same as the 1982’s version. To my surprise, this prequel seems to preserve its goriness and grotesque scenes of violence death and alien monsters. The only difference is it’s done with 3D animation, rather than prosthetics make-up and animatronics.
Nevertheless, I would like to suggest that you watch the 1982’s “The thing” first before you go on and see this one. Why? It’s simply because of its ending. SPOILER ALERT: I tried hard not to snap back at a couple who walked besides me after the movie. The girl asked her boyfriend “Kenapa diorang kejar anjing tu lepas tu tiba-tiba habis” (Why did they chase the dog then the movie ends?) which was replied by her boyfriend “Ending tergantung” (The ending is left unanswered) For those who had watched the john Carpenter’s version, you know what I’m talking about.
All in all, I rate this piece 3.5/5. Anyone who enjoys sci-fi slash horror flick, you should check this one out.
