Movie Review - The Thing

Movie Title

The Thing

Year

2011
Genre
Horror, Sci-Fi, Prequel

Story

The movie starts with several Norwegian research scientists exploring an anomalous signal emanating from the remote regions of the Antartica back in the '60s. However, their mission abruptly ends when their snow cruiser falls into a deep ravine that had been caused by a colossal non-terrestrial structure.

Forward to the present, American Paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead - last seen in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) is recruited for an historic expedition she couldn't refuse by the highly respected research scientist - Dr. Sander Halvorson (Ulrich Thomsen)

Joining the Norwegian scientific team in an isolated outpost in Antartica, that have finally found the alien craft discovered earlier by their predecessors back in the '60s buried in the ice. They uncover a creature, presumably the pilot of the space-craft, completely frozen and seems to have died in the crash thousands of ago.

They bring the frozen alien back to the research centre for further study. Their experiments inadvertently allows the alien to free itself from the ice block in which it was frozen.

They soon find that the alien has shape-shifting abilities - to turn into exact replicas of any living thing & mimic their behavior. Paranoia soon spreads among them as they they're infected, one by one, rife with suspicion they succumb to the alien.

Their mission now turns into one of survival and destroying it - preventing it from reaching human civilization. The Thing 2011 is a prelude to the classic John Carpenter's the Thing from 1982.

Acting

I don't really know most of the actors from this movie except that Ulrich Thomsen looked like one of those villains from either a James Bond or Die Hard movie.

This is after all a movie premised on a horrible alien that kills and mimics its victims. so other than looking fearful or anxious, not much else is really required of their acting skills. Well, except for when Kate infiltrates the alien craft in the last half that we see her convey some sense of drama & suspense. But I have to say, she is a really beautiful actress and had never quite noticed her beauty until now.

Overall

I think that with movies like Avatar & Matrix, audiences now have much higher expectations from Sci-Fi movies that incorporate heavy use of CGI. Hence, with that in mind, although this version isn't really bad, but one can't help but compare it against the 1982 version. Technically, this one is slicker and has more scenes of the alien morphing, but people will still like the older version more as it (or the concept/implementation) was new while this one doesn't show audiences anything they have not seen before.

Not great but still enjoyable nonetheless. However, there are quire a number of disturbing scenes especially when the alien morphs.

Rating: 5.5/10

Comic Review - Avengers 46- 50

Title/Storyline

(Kang Dynasty Review - part 2)

Avengers Vol 3. 46-50

Publish Date/Year

2000-2001

Creative Team

Story: Kurt Busiek

Art:

Manuel Garcia (#44-47)

Kieron Dwyer (#48-50)

Publisher

Marvel

Story

#46

Kang deploys his warriors and the Avengers's strongest members Hercules, Thor & She-Hulk and a global contingent of soldiers engage them in battle. Meanwhile, Yellowjacket, Warbird, Quicksilver, and Silverclaw assess the new threat of the Master’s constructs that he had built all across the world. They investigate one of the Master's bases and battle through his defences but were apparently defeated by the Master. Meanwhile, Cap, Photon (Monica Rambeau), Jack of Hearts, and Wanda (Scarlet Witch) head into space to confront Kang directly in his sword-shaped flying HQ – the Sword of Damocles.

#47

Warbird (or better known to many as Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel) survived the Master's attempt to destroy the Avengers, but is attacked by his plodex wolves. The Scarlet Centurion infiltrates the Master’s base rescue her but she refuses his help and doesn't want anything to do with him. He proves that he isn't the Marcus that tricked her into loving him (waaay back from Avengers Vol.1 #200) and that his feelings for her are genuine. However, they are still on opposing sides of an ongoing war and rejoin their respective sides.

#48

A mysterious pyramid –shaped star spanning construct of unbelievable size and power enters the solar system. The war with Kang continues. The Triune Understanding powers up their spiritual ship and send it up against the "triple evil". Captain America and his team fail to breach Kang's Damocles base so the US government decides to launch a horde of Sentinel robots (the constant thorn to the X-Men) against Kang. Unfortunately, Kang foresaw this and used his time traveling influence to override the Sentinels' controls and sent them back against the USA. Meanwhile, Warbird and her team defeat the Master and take control of his bases and weapons.

#49

Kang and his Sentinel robots converge on Washington and are thwarted by the defenses of the Master's bases all over the globe that are now in the Avengers’ control. Unfortunately, the Kang’s Damocles starship provides enough firepower to destroy the Master's defenses and bases. Thor saves the US president just before Kang unleashes a bomb that decimates Washington. Wasp and the US goverment had no choice but to surrender to Kang.

#50

Quasar and the Living Lightning head off to space to rescue Captain America, Jack of Hearts, and Photon after Kang's attack. They meet up with Jonathan Tremont of the Triune Understanding who prepares to face the threat of the Tri-Evil. Unfortunately, he is driven by a power lust and seeks to destroy the Tri-Evil for his own means. Triathlon, with the essence of the 3-D man, manages to wrestle the power away from Tremont and destroys the Tri-Evil. The Avengers return to Earth only to learn that it had already surrendered to Kang & his forces.

Art

As I had said in my earlier entry, Manuel Garcia is a competent artist. However, his work is still unpolished and inconsistent. I truly missed Alan Davis’s work.

Dwyer’s name and work were both unfamiliar to me and judging from his covers, they really looked 3^rd grade. Without the convenience of online art or covers that all of us are familiar with today, back then, all we had were cover images from the Previews or Wizard magazine to make our decision on whether or not we liked the new artist’s work.

HOWEVER, I’ll have to say that his work is really way better than his covers. I’m rather surprised I do not see more of his work these days as he is really good. Much better than Manuel Garcia in the past few issues.

Overall

This is one of the BEST Avengers EPICs as brilliantly told by Busiek. Busiek fans also know that he can do no wrong, especially with team books like the Avengers. He manages to keep the team interaction balanced while the exciting elements are constantly being amped up.

Other Bits - My Korea Trip

The following are snippets of my recent trip to Seoul, Korea. They have been grouped by their respective locations. Enjoy...

The Seoul Animation Center

The Korea House

Namdaemun (Great South Gate)

Kinda like our very own Chinatown where hawkers and stalls are strewn on either side of the streets.

And...some stuff that we won't see in our Chinatown. I believe they're marinated bugs.

Now, this I can do with more... =)

Shinsegae - Korea's very own Premier Shopping experience. Think of it as their version of Pavillion

Trinity - one of Shinsegae's exclusive brands.

Cheonggye-Cheon (Cheonggye Stream)
Located in the heart of Seoul, the 8.4km stream cuts across the city from west to east. It looks equally stunning in the day as in the night. Excellent for photos.

The iconic Dancing Fountain on Banpo Bridge (along the Han River)

The Myeong Dong Theatre in the heart of..., where else, but Myeong Dong?

Seoul National Museum

You could literally spend the entire day here as there are 4 floors of artifacts and on each floor, there are 2 wings. Each wing has 4 sections and runs for about 750 m each wing.

Deoksugung Palace

The National War Museum (at Yongsan)
It has many of the war vehicles & planes on display. A great place to visit as seeing the real tanks & planes is a totally different experience from what you see from pictures. The sheer size and magnificence can't be well represented unless you see them with your own eyes.

This is one of literally dozens of plaques that record the names of those who had died fighting the wars in Korea.


Samziegil - cultural/handicraft/shopping centre in Insadong.

On one of the balconies, you can see these cute critters grazing...

National Museum

National Folk Museum of Korea (located in Gyeongbokgung Palace)

The exit at Anguk Station of Line 3 is the best & closest location to the Folk Museum.