Summary
A monster from the Han River attacks Seoul while a father races to rescue his daughter.
My Thoughts:
The Host is a creature feature on the exterior, and a biting socio-economical commentary on the inside, with its core being rooted in a common theme of Bong Joon-Ho; family. While it starts out as any monster movie may, with pure carnage, the film progresses, while not without its exciting monster moments, in a much more character driven fashion, the monster is merely the McGuffin of the story, while it's what the creature represents that brings it all together. Even though this came out in 2006, its themes are all the more relevant today, especially with the Corona virus breakout. At the end I almost had to rack my brain about government cover-ups and what all they could possibly be hiding, and that may sound paranoid, but films like this and 'Contagion' make that reality feel all too real.
Bong Joon-Ho's knack for creating realistic characters is one of the many reasons why he's become such a famous face. His natural ability to make each character feel different and wholly organic, Bong is also able to blend hard hitting drama with a belly full of laughter with seamless effort. Gang-Doo (Kang-ho Song, “Memories of Murder”) is a bit of a dolt, not book smart by any means which has it's comedic family, it's quickly matched with his love and compassion for Ah-Sung (Ko Asung, “Snowpiercer”), to which he will go any lengths to save her, even if that means getting captured by a corrupt government project. And while the characters really shine in The Host, I don't find this to be a perfect film, especially with what Bong has made up to this point, my main qualm is with the execution of the third act, it feels a tad heavy handed at points, and lacks a really satisfying ending despite a few solid twists. Once the government conspiracy is revealed it all plays out as one would think, but this was only a stepping stone for Bong, as he learns from each project and finely tunes his next ones.
There's always something about Being Joon-Ho films that captivate me, it might be the intentional messiness of them, or his use of subtle, technical shots showcasing his beautiful country, his stories always have relatability, making human connection look easy in a monster movie, which is a lot more than the previous two Godzilla movies can say (“Godzilla”, “Godzilla: King of the Monsters”). While the CGI may not be up to Hollywood standards, it still looks fine and I can suspend my disbelief for two hours, which albeit is a tad overlong for this kind of genre film, it does stumble a bit towards the end, but that doesn't make the it any less compelling to watch, blending hard hitting family values with creature horror is a feat that Joon-Ho tackled with great results.
Overall, The Host may not be Bong Joon-Ho's most influential or satisfying film, but it is still a film with something to say: a biting social class commentary involving government cover-ups and exploiting the poor in order to cover their own skin that is just as poignant today as it was fourteen years ago. All the while being an entertaining monster flick with a strong family dynamic that blends humor and drama perfectly as we've come to expect from Bong Joon-Ho, who gives us a fully realized world with fleshed out characters, that can more than make up for the hiccups towards the end. The Host is another sure fire hit from Joon-Ho, and maybe his most accessible for those who have trouble watching foreign films.
I give The Host 4 stars out of 5.
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