The Host (2006)

The monster movie genre is one that seems intrinsically tied to Asian cinema. "The Host" seems to stick rigidly to the hallmarks of this genre, and accomplishes some of these stereotypes with aplomb, while some are woefully underdone. The basic plot is the plot of all these movies. A monster is created due to scientistific mishaps, the monster goes on the rampage, the Government get involved with disastrous consequences, and a classic everyman saves the day. The scenes with the monster rampaging, especially in the opening section, are very well done, no matter how cliched they are. This brings me to the monster, this is where the movie finds some sense of oiginality and the animations for the monster are superb and alone are worth at least half a star. Moreover, the focus on the family fighting the monsters are an enjoyable driving force for the film. Between them they give the movie a certain uniqueness. They provide comedic moments and they make the conflict with the monster more than just cliche giving it true spirit. This is where the praise ends. As I mentioned early, a staple of this genre is the everyman who finds himself leading the fight against the monster and is the only one seemingly capable of destroying the monster. The everyman in "The Host" is a father looking for his daughter. With so much resting on this character, it is a disappointment how poor this specific actor was. He played his character as such a dimwit that it was impossible to truly empathise with him and although I can understand why the loss of his daughter would drive him to achieve anything, his attempts to attack the creature doesn't contain any humanity. A crucial scene in this type of movie is the final encounter with this creature. In "The Host" this specific scene is overly long, phenomenally predictable and riddled with cliches, that leave a sour taste in the mouth after an enjoyable movie. Additionally, the scenes with the little girl are necessary to drive the narrative, but any sense of pace or tension built up in the movie is killed off by these scenes.