Thursday, October 20, 2011

The Thing 2011

Whenever i go see a film i always try to leave my bullshit at the door and see the film for what it is, not what i think it should be. And truthfully thats something i beleive everybody should do. If your dissapointed that you over hyped the film in your head, thats not the films fault. But there are times when I find it hard to leave my shit at the door. To me Carpenters The Thing is his shinning masterpeice. Its one of my favorite horror film ever made. Its perfect. And when ever i debate practical effects verses CGI, The Thing is the film i use as example. The stuff Rob Bottin did in that film are mind blowing. It is the ultimate practical effects film ever made. And thats not my opinion thats a fact. Its a film very near to my heart. So i had a really hard time leaving my little bag of bullshit at the door. The Thing is in fact a prequel to Capenters masterpeice. This is the film about the Norwegian camp who discover the centuries old UFO and its pilot under the ice. Alot of attention went into making this film by filmmakers to work with Carpenters film, although not quite flawlessly. But they tried with pretty good success. There were some events that ended with me thinking thats not how Russell and team find it. But truthfully i was alright with that. What i feel is this films two biggest downfalls are its atmosphere and of course the CGI creatures and transformations. I cant think of any other reason, other than a bunch of tight asses not wanting to spend the cash, for this production to have strictly CGI transformations. I dont hate CGI but i beleive its a tool when used on its own looks fake and cartoonish. They should have done the right thing and did practical effects enchanced with CGI. Thats the only way that technology works! Most of the time it looks very in-organic and theres no weight. Essentially it looks like a cartoon ala Roger Rabbit. And i cant get past stuff like that in any film. Especially the prequel to such a masterpeice were the creatures are so damn scary. Now not all of the effects sucked. Theres are several transformations and creatures that look awsome. And i couldnt tell if they were strictly CGI. But those that dont work look like a video game imposed against live actors. Another thing i feel the filmmakers failed to do was create a atmosphere were you the veiwer and actors are paranoid as to who can be the thing. The isolation and deperation of the group is all missing and more so than the effects is what really made Carpenters film work. And not once did i feel that felling of isolation and deperation in this film. I didnt hate this version of the story, but it definalty doesnt come close to being a awsome film experience. And maybe thats because i sat in that theatre and i had my little bag of bullshit with me. Ive been seriously thinking of seeing it again now knowing what to expect. I dont think it would be a waste of time or my money too. The film isnt a steaming pile. But i gotta admit to be pretty dissapointed. But i can now leave my bag at the door.

No comments: