Review of The Host (2006) by Jevans26 — 22 May 2012

Boasting very strong visuals (thanks to Weta and Orphanage VSFX companies), The Host is one of the most unusual and jarring films I have seen in a long time.

One second you will be wracked with emotion for the characters, deep despair...then the director pushes it a bit further and you wonder if the scene is a joke. Just when you are comfortable enough to assume that the scene in question is a joke and laugh at it, the director throws an emotional or terrifying curve-ball that instantly sobers you and induces a bit of guilt for even laughing at the cleverly constructed joke. This entire process happens many times during the film and can last anywhere from 10-20 seconds. The Host is filmmaking at its finest. No joke.

Very few films can elicit genuine laughs without shattering the tension and integrity of the characters, and this is a VERY character centered movie. It is a sly combination of Little Miss Sunshine, Jaws, and Jurassic Park.

I could keep drooling over how wonderful this film is but, honestly, what would that accomplish. There are two major flaws in this film:

1) The Premise: How the creature comes to exist is terribly paper thin...we're talking 1950's comic book thin here. However, in the films defense, the plot uses the creature as a means to tell a powerful and compelling story through excellent and memorable characters...so the origin story doesn't actually amount to much. I would have been happy if they had just left it out entirely.

2) The way the creature moves:

When you first see the creature you will be disappointed. Promise. It gets better. I have analyzed the film to figure out why this shift from not believable to convincing (through the movie) exists and I can tell you this: it is not because of the graphics. They are beautiful start to finish. I think it is because when you first see the creature, it is hunting for the very first time and it moves super clumsy...like a toddler monster. We are not used to our cinema creatures being so inept so I think that throws western audiences off to begin with but, as mentioned, the film will quickly suck you back into the land of believability. Those were my only two complaints about the ENTIRE film.

Really.

Go see this today.