Went and saw The Thing today & thought I'd chime in with observations, perhaps a smallish review of sorts...
Bottom line: I wanted to like it, and, in fact, did. I did my best to park any expectations at the door, as I read both harshly negative and fairly intelligent, positive reviews last night. The film, for the most part, walks a strange line between being interesting & flat. The creature effects are pretty cool; I dug 'em, but will say that they are definitely CGI-originated, and, in some scenes, are too digital, where that 'suspension of disbelief' is temporarily shattered. Although I am hesitant to make comparisons to Carpenter's classic, one element missing from this new Thing is a fairly consistent lack of suspense; there is little of that sense of ominous dread & paranoia so much a part of Carpenter's design. It doesn't help that the score is a far cry from Morricone/Carpenter/Howarth's minimal electronic pulsations, which helped immeasurably buttress that film's nightmarish atmosphere (Rob Bottin's god-like creature executions notwithstanding).
There's no doubt that this new Thing is for the most part a wholly unnecessary object that surely didn't need reinvention, but I found it diverting enough in its own right; it doesn't sully the rep of it's 1982 forebear, nor does it attain that film's grand guignol heights. At best, it achieves a respectable middle ground for its rather economical 95 or so minutes. Make of that what you will.
(Oh, and be sure to stay through at least the first half of the closing credits - pretty essential to get the whole idea of the new filmmaker's intentions.)
