Movie Review: The Host
A monster movie for the 21st Century:
The Host:
"Seoul's River Han is the watery birthplace of a giant mutant creature bent on the city's total destruction. Hie-bong (Hie-bong Byeon) is a humble snack bar owner whose precious granddaughter Hyun-seo (Ah-sung Ko) is scooped up by the scaly lizard, presumably as an appetizer before the beast devours all of Seoul. Can the mild-mannered concession peddler, his dim son and slacker grandson band together and save both child and city?"
--description from Netflix
The description is not quite accurate, as it's actually the grandfather and his son (Hyun-seo's dad), the grandfather's other son, and the grandfather's daughter who happens to be a champion archer who go after the monster. There is no "slacker grandson".
Anyway.
The Host was a very entertaining, suspenseful monster movie. I kept switching back and forth between the Korean soundtrack with English subtitles and the English soundtrack dub--the film is much better with the original Korean soundtrack. The English dub is not even close to what is actually going on and makes everyone seem very stupid. That said, it was enjoyable to watch this very dysfunctional, Little Miss Sunshine-like family take on a strange creature seemingly created by the arrogance of science.
The monster is actually pretty creepy and gross--it kind of has a Predator-like mouth but its body is all Alien-gone-underwater. Unlike a lot of other movies that make you wait until the end to reveal the big monster scare, this one pretty much starts out with it. The beginning scene is both amusing and scary, and is a great set up for the rest of the film. The film is a thrill ride, with plenty of gore and scares, but it is also very funny and satiric, as the family bickers with each other, and as the government tries to contain a "virus" the creature supposedly secretes by using the Agent Orange-like Agent Yellow--recalling the SARS scare that rocked Asia in recent years. The film is well-acted and the special effects are good. I only gave it three stars because I absolutely hated the ending. I won't give it away, but it spoiled the whole movie, which up to that time was an enjoyable experience, for me.
3 Stars out of 5.
The Host:
"Seoul's River Han is the watery birthplace of a giant mutant creature bent on the city's total destruction. Hie-bong (Hie-bong Byeon) is a humble snack bar owner whose precious granddaughter Hyun-seo (Ah-sung Ko) is scooped up by the scaly lizard, presumably as an appetizer before the beast devours all of Seoul. Can the mild-mannered concession peddler, his dim son and slacker grandson band together and save both child and city?"
--description from Netflix
The description is not quite accurate, as it's actually the grandfather and his son (Hyun-seo's dad), the grandfather's other son, and the grandfather's daughter who happens to be a champion archer who go after the monster. There is no "slacker grandson".
Anyway.
The Host was a very entertaining, suspenseful monster movie. I kept switching back and forth between the Korean soundtrack with English subtitles and the English soundtrack dub--the film is much better with the original Korean soundtrack. The English dub is not even close to what is actually going on and makes everyone seem very stupid. That said, it was enjoyable to watch this very dysfunctional, Little Miss Sunshine-like family take on a strange creature seemingly created by the arrogance of science.
The monster is actually pretty creepy and gross--it kind of has a Predator-like mouth but its body is all Alien-gone-underwater. Unlike a lot of other movies that make you wait until the end to reveal the big monster scare, this one pretty much starts out with it. The beginning scene is both amusing and scary, and is a great set up for the rest of the film. The film is a thrill ride, with plenty of gore and scares, but it is also very funny and satiric, as the family bickers with each other, and as the government tries to contain a "virus" the creature supposedly secretes by using the Agent Orange-like Agent Yellow--recalling the SARS scare that rocked Asia in recent years. The film is well-acted and the special effects are good. I only gave it three stars because I absolutely hated the ending. I won't give it away, but it spoiled the whole movie, which up to that time was an enjoyable experience, for me.
3 Stars out of 5.