 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
The Thing
- Review Date: October 14, 2011
- R
- Genre: Horror
- 2011
Common Sense Media says
Gory remake of two scary classics lacks their bite.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that The Thing -- which takes place slightly before the events of 1982's The Thing and includes some of the same events as the original 1951 movie The Thing from Another World -- has lots of strong, gory visual effects with terrifying mutations between humans and aliens. Humans' faces suddenly split apart, with teeth and tendrils bursting from within, and there's lots of shooting and even a gooey alien autopsy. Language is strong (including "f--k" and "s--t") but not constant. Sex scenes aren't an issue, but one character does tell a very dirty sex joke involving a young boy.
What's the story?
When a spaceship is discovered buried in the ice in Antarctica, Dr. Sander Halvorson (Ulrich Thomsen) summons top paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) to help investigate. The reason? There's a survivor, a creepy, dark shape frozen in ice a short distance away from the ship. Kate joins several Norwegian researchers in studying the beast, but before anyone can get down to business, the creature gets loose. Worse, Kate soon discovers that it has the ability to perfectly mimic human beings. Not knowing who to trust, Kate soon comes to a hard decision: No one must leave the site alive.
Is it any good?
Howard Hawks' The Thing from Another World (1951) -- based, like this movie, on a short story by John W. Campbell Jr. -- used a particular, unique style to establish characters and build suspense. John Carpenter's brilliant remake The Thing (1982) managed to be truly frightening while playing with a subtle social and political commentary. But this "premake" -- directed by first timer Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. -- feels like nothing more than a marketing ploy, a move to cash in on a familiar brand with no further attempt to make it relevant.
The movie's visual effects, a combination of digital and latex, look good and manage to copy Rob Bottin's groundbreaking work from the 1982 movie. And by virtue of copying, the new movie manages to re-capture some of the same terrifying human/creature hybrids that caused such chills before. This movie also uses locations and timing to similar effect, but eventually it runs out of steam, forgetting all about the paranoia theme and ignoring any other potentially interesting themes.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about the movie's gory violence. What was your reaction? Do you think that's what the filmmakers intended?
Is the movie scary? What made it scary? In general, what's scarier -- the things you see, or the things you don't?
One of the movie's themes is trust. Do you think you would have put more trust in the other characters? Is there any danger in trusting someone in real life?
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AGE
Bloodtests arent needed for this awesome film.
It was a VERY great Prequel. DO NOT watch unless you've seen the original "The Thing".
It definitely has violence in it, but not as bad as some movies (Aliens). Little bits and pieces of language, but again, not as bad as some movies.
Overall, though- on on and more on for 10+.
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Kid, 11 years old
October 24, 2011
AGE
awesome
Great movie but some scary jump scenes. SEe the one with kurt russel first
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AGE
Pretty Descent, Very Gory
This movie is a pretty decent prequel to an excellent 1982 movie. I would recommend that the movie is fine for anyone over the age of 16. It is very gory at times and has a few minor make-you-jump scenes, but in the long run it is sci-fi so nothing to detrimental. The language is very profane at times with repeated use of the f-word, s-word, Godd****t. Anyone under the age of 16 I think would be fine as long as they are not scared easily and if you think they can handle the gore and language.
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AGE
scary
This really scary and violent. My rating: Gruesome, disturbing violence, some strong language, and disturbing images
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AGE
Mature 15.
Rated R for strong creature violence and gore, disturbing images, and language.
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AGE
One of the goriest mainstream horror movies in recent years, if not ever
The Thing is a very good, very scary and very, very gory remake\prequel of the classic 1982 John Carpenter movie of the same name. In fact, it is so gory that really, I honestly couldn't be able to believe that fans of the original movie, like myself, would in any way be dissapointed with this remake/prequel. Really, the recreation of classic scenes and even gorier and more realistic special effects should make long time fans of the original horror classic very happy, just like I was. But, even though I was very much satisfied with it, I will say this again: This is a very gory movie that is in absolutely no way appropriate for children. For example: We have many scenes of extremely gruesome violence such as the alien killing people in some of the most disturbing ways imaginable, the alien imitating people and later revealing itself to other people in again, some of the goriest scenes I have ever seen. Seriously, it is that gruesome. Also, there are several uses of the F-word, but there are almost entirely used to realistically depict the fear that the victims are feeling during the most intense scenes, but, compared to the level of violence and gore in the movie, the profanity isn't really all that much of a problem, at all. Still, if you loved the original or even slightly liked it, I am fairly sure that you will not leave the theater dissapointed.
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Kid, 12 years old
February 19, 2012
AGE
Good, but GROSS!
Long-time horror lovers beware, some have complained that this movie is no where near as scary as the original. While that may be true, I think the remake of the movie is changed in a way where it would be scarier for modern day audiences. But I'll tell you this, its the best horror I've seen in a while! In terms of violence, don't let the four out of five star rating fool you. Body parts are ripped off aggressively, creatures are set on fire, people's body are ripped in half, revealing a hideous monsters inside. People's chest burst open, arms and legs get mangled, you name it. The most shocking scene includes a giant monster that crawls up to it's victim and slowly, well, you'd have to see it for yourself. In a nutshell, it's gross. While f*ck is used multiple times, it's less than you'd expect in a horror movie. Well, that's about all you should be worried about. (Besides the dirty joke at the beginning.) While I might have been a little young to see this, I saw it with my parents, and I went to sleep soundly that night.
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Kid, 12 years old
February 7, 2012
AGE
Not scary, but grusome, gross, and violent.
This is the most grusome and most violent movie I have ever seen. People get killed grusomly and some to a lot of language and very little drinking, but not that much. You see sombody smoking in the movie. Due to all the violent and gross things and anything else I said, No kid (or even older teens) should watch this movie.
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AGE
Worst Horror Remake
This remake is terrible in every single matter. There is no plot, there are no characters, there is nothing interesting to see here. The film is really graphic watching the corpse of the monster, other people getting eaten alive by the creature, people getting mixed into the monster, etc. But the rest is so dull and boring that it makes no sense why did they make a remake. DO NOT take your kids below 17 to watch this movie, and I think it would a waste of your time and money. On the sex part, well there is a strong sex joke mentioned at the beginning of the movie. There is a lot of foul language used in the film.
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| Studio: | Universal Pictures |
| Director: | Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. |
| Cast: | Joel Edgerton, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ulrich Thomsen |
| Genre: | Horror |
| Run time: | 103 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | October 14, 2011 |
| DVD release date: | January 31, 2012 |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | strong creature violence and gore, disturbing images, and language |
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