Review of The Thing

This movie has been out for like 2 days and all I've read are reviews from those self-proclaimed "loyal fans of the original" (and by original, I don't mean "The Thing From Another World") that feel betrayed or disappointed or whatever. I myself happen to be a student of "old-school" horror and I am DEFINITELY a loyal fan of Carpenter's classic, and I thought that this movie held strong for itself. It's like all those people out there that complain that "The Godfather Part 3" was terrible, when in reality it was a good movie on its own. Compared to the rest of the series it was weak, but, like this movie, was good on its own. Yes, we get it. Its not the original. It doesn't keep the creature out of sight as much. Okay, get over it. Keeping the audience guessing was "in" in the late 70s/early 80s, and I loved that. Thats why it worked in "The Thing", "Alien", etc. But its 2011, and as much as I miss the suspense and guessing games of those times, we're in a new era where films sadly use more CG and flashy scenes than character development (by the way, where was the superb character development in the original? both films are HORROR movies about a group of people we know nothing about as we watch them try to survive. Did we really ever learn anything about Kurt Russell's family? or what Keith David's favorite football team was?) and good old Savini/Baker-esque special effects. But this movie, in my opinion, was made for those "loyal fans" that,while watching the first film, were saying "Wow, I'd love to know what happened at this Norwegian camp before Kurt Russell got here!" And it did just that. It led right up to the events of the first film, while telling a separate, while similar, interesting story. It explained minute details from the first film that we were left wondering about. It recreated the Norwegian camp as viewed in the first film. It did everything in its power to remain true to the first film, while also giving us a reason to pay and see a NEW MOVIE. In our day and age, where it seems like every other horror movie that comes out is a remake of a classic from years ago (due to lack of original ideas?), its nice to see a prequel instead of a remake. Its nice to see a movie that tries to tell an original story, while keeping just enough elements in there to hook loyal fans of the original film. If you're going to the theater to watch Carpenter's "The Thing" (which it seems like all these 'loyal fans of the original' were expecting, though I don't know why...), then don't see it. If you loved Carpenter's film and want to see a fun N-E-W story that perhaps answers some questions you've wanted answered, then see this. Remember, its not Carpenter's film and its not trying to be. Its another movie, just giving a bit of an homage to Carpenter's classic.