49
Metascore
31 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 63Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThis version of The Thing, directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., provides such graphic and detailed views of the creature that we are essentially reduced to looking at special effects, and being aware that we are. Think how little you ever really saw in the first "Alien" movie, and how frightening it was.
- 50Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzArizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzWhile this version, listed as a "prequel," has a few gross-out moments, it lacks any sense of warmth. Which might be an odd criticism of a horror movie set in Antarctica, but there you have it.
- 50Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovAustin ChronicleMarc SavlovHeijningen's The Thing is tightly paced, has enough imaginative horror to satisfy even the most jaded gorehound, and never strays too far from its source, so why do you come away from it feeling like it was the runner-up in a daylight nightmare festival?
- 50The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyThe Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyHeijningen doesn't display the instinct of the best Hollywood action directors to give the audience what it craves at the big moments, except for a few gory in-your-face shots.
- 50VarietyRob NelsonVarietyRob NelsonFar less chilling than versions from 1951 and 1982, Universal's latest take on The Thing at least has a strong lead thesp in Mary Elizabeth Winstead, recruited for the studio's bid to turn a tale of ice-cold macho paranoia into a beauty-vs.-beast shocker a la "Alien."
- 50Slant MagazineJesse CataldoSlant MagazineJesse CataldoYou can tell a lot about the film from its rough handling of the materials supplied by its predecessor, using these commonalities both to identify the bond between the two and signal how much further it's willing to push things.
- 42The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonThe A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonFor a film that takes place in such a cold locale, it all feels awfully warmed-over.
- Offers audiences a similar-but-not-the-same mix of effects, existentialism and creepy body horror while forgetting the things like character, humor and tension that made Carpenter's take on the same material so memorable past the initial fearsome fluid flesh sequences.
- 38Orlando SentinelRoger MooreOrlando SentinelRoger MooreIt's an infuriatingly static picture - actors walking around when they should be running, ruminating when they should be panicking, generally failing to convey fear and pick up the pace.
- 25Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallTampa Bay TimesSteve PersallThis Thing is purely for the gorehounds, and they aren't likely to leave impressed.