The Host

As scathing reviews pour in for the latest Stephenie Meyer book-turned-shitty-movie, The Host, Mark and I have stumbled upon a much different film that unfortunately shares the same title. Our The Host is a Korean movie from 2006. It was directed by Joon-ho Bong -- if that means anything to anyone -- and stars six or seven people that I have never seen or heard of before. (Though, upon closer inspection, one actress can also be found in Cloud Atlas). In this The Host, pollution of the Han River in South Korea creates a mutant creature that kidnaps a young girl. As the government and general population react to this event, the family of the girl try to track her down before it's too late.

Netflix: Seems to be

Pick: Durango Dylan

Dylan: It’s irritating that a Stephenie Meyer movie with the same title happens to be in theaters at the time that we’re talking about this film; they are worlds apart. Mark, I know you're usually the one who goes for the foreign films, but I have been wanting to see this one for a while. And I’m glad I watched it. I really enjoyed it and there is a ton of stuff I’m ready to talk about. But first, what did you think?

Mark: Well, it certainly wasn’t what i was expecting from what little about it I knew going in.  There were parts of it I liked more than others, but as a whole, I thought this was a well-done monster movie.  The problem with the Stephenie Meyer’s thing is that people will further forget this movie now that something more mainstream is out with the same title.

Dylan: I agree that it wasn’t what I was expecting. All I had really heard about it was that it’s sort of a modern Godzilla story. I felt like there are definitely some not-so-allusive pokes at the U.S. and it's role in South Korean society, but since I'm not well-versed in that situation, those references were mostly over my head. I thought the monster was unique and interesting. The story was pretty solid. The effects were much better than expected and certainly got the job done. The only movie that comes to mind in comparison is Cloverfield, but I think this one did a better job. Also, the family from The Host is now my favorite movie family. (Then again, the only other movie family I can think of is the Parr family from The Incredibles.)

Mark: I knew so little about this that I thought it was a tentacle monster, just basing it off the poster.  But I was glad to be wrong, because the monster was pretty entertaining, and I appreciate how well it was made to be just something in the local environment that had mutated.  Though I would have liked a bit more mystery to the monster; maybe not in the sense of Cloverfield where you barely see it, but then again, it helps the movie that within 15 minutes of setting up the family, shit just gets going.  And the strength of the film really was the family dynamic rather than the monster.  While it had parts about the government/US teams involvement in dealing with the monster, it was so much more about how one family deals with a situation such as a father losing his daughter to the monster.

Dylan: Okay, so since neither of us know that much about South Korea, let’s suffice it to say that there is some allegory here, but we can’t really describe its significance/relevance.

I kind of liked how the monster was revealed to us in its entirety right away. Because then it becomes a character. It’s not just a destructive force eating people and knocking over buildings for no reason. We know how it came into existence, how it grew. And through the movie we see that it, too, has motivations and needs. It is, for me, very convincingly a real living thing, which made me think about how it lives and how it fits into the ecosystem. 

It's not only different, visually, from other things we’ve seen; it’s so much more believable and interesting.

Sidenote: I also really enjoyed the way it used its tail to swing across bridges. The scene where the father and son just see this long thing come out of the darkness and start feeling around for something to snag.

That was so creepy and peculiar to me.

Also, each member of the family is three-dimensional; each one has a past and a personal story. There's the guy who loses his daughter, and his siblings resent him. He loves her more than anything, and the father explains why he’s a little slow. The sister, who is a champion archer, and has to overcome her hesitation. And the brother, who we learn before we even meet him is highly educated but has become an alcoholic because of his unemployment. The family dynamic is so legitimate and relatable. And yet they’re all dealing with the same reality. I have more to say, but I’m rambling. You go.

Mark:Yeah, rambling is one way to put it.  Well I agree with you about the realism of the monster; it seems like something that really could have mutated in the Han River.  Cause it wasn’t the size of a building or anything.  it was rather small in terms of monsters we’ve seen.  And you did a good job setting up the family, but for me, I found them more compelling by the second half of the film.  In the first half, I felt that it was pretty cliche how it was going about it.  They band together and go hunt the monster.  Yes, there was some characterizations for them, but it all seemed to be overshadowed by the monster and the hunt.

Now, when we hit the second half, things basically fall apart.  A major character is killed -- fairly horrible when you see it unfold -- and then they’re all scattered.  Suddenly the desperation goes up a bunch of notches.  We see the earlier characterizations put into effect.  It’s no longer about the monster or the governments; it’s all about the family and things become so much more interesting.

Dylan: I agree, for a little while it’s silly. Though the drama is still there. There were some scenes -- only one or two -- where I couldn't tell if it was deliberately trying to be funny. I wonder if maybe some dialogue and actions are lost in translation. However, I immensely enjoyed the scene where they’re all eating and they all sort of collectively imagine the young girl there, because the fact that she is trapped and hungry is weighing on all of their minds. They don’t talk about it; they just imagine her eating off of their plates. Very cool. Also, what did you think of the gore/violence factor? I really liked that the gore was really just assumed. It somehow made it slightly more terrifying. Like when the monster busts into that van, and all you see is bloody arms reaching out the opposite door. We never see bodies or a ton of blood, just a lot of people who aren't sure if they should run or not. It seemed like a pretty realistic reaction to the situation. And it was a long scene, forcing your terror to ratchet up as you watch, as if you're standing there with everyone else.

Mark: Yeah, I was glad that Joon-ho Bong decided to leave the gore to our own imaginations.  We can create much more violent things in our heads.  And one thing I really appreciated was that while the monster, at a point, seems like it's maybe not that bad, on the whole it's just a killing machine.  The movie didn’t try to rationalize anything for it.  I was afraid they were going to attempt the 'misunderstood monster' angle, but then it ended with that very entertaining final confrontation.

Dylan: Where the entire family pulls together. Wow, 'misunderstood monster' would have made me vomit. I am so grateful they didn't try that. But holy shit, I just remembered...the ending is not happy. That was a shock to me. I guess I can’t say any more about it without giving something away. But damn.

Mark: Yeah but it adds a more realistic angle to it.  And it shows how open the father’s heart is; the scene is sad for a moment and then touching in the next.  And we haven’t touched on the scenes with the daughter, Hyun-Seo.  I liked them, and they help lead to that ending, but I feel as though those were the times that lagged for me.  I know they were very important, but it was the rest of the family that held my attention; their hunt for her over their own safety.

Dylan: You mean the scenes of her trapped? They certainly built the intensity of her survival, while at the same time giving us the groundwork on which to speculate what the monster’s plan is. And while the scenes didn't necessarily captivate me because I was rooting for her survival, I was still disturbed each time the monster showed up with some new, horrific surprise. I kind of liked how some of the movie was in English. And I don’t know if you know this, but that doctor in the very first scene is Hershel from The Walking Dead, which definitely threw me for a loop when I started. I'm not sure what else to talk about though. What else ya got?

Mark:  Hyun-Seo's part was very important to the whole story structure, but the emotional center was the father and his siblings.  Overall, it was an entertaining monster flick, mostly because the monster wasn’t the main story element.  Yeah, it was there making trouble and fucking shit up, but the family and their struggles kept me going.  I really felt for them, even in such a setting.  And I could come up with some trivia, maybe.  But if you have anything to add, say it.  Say it now.

Dylan: I agree, in that the movie accomplished something that most movies in this genre fail to do. It showed the broad scope of the situation -- the governmental response, the international response, the bystander's response, and the monster itself -- while still having strong, interesting characters that we can root for. I really enjoyed it and I’d happily watch it again. Also, I believe there is a sequel in the works.

Mark: Yeah I read there was a sequel in the works, but nothing much about it now, though I don’t know where they’d go, beyond having more of the monsters showing up.  But how about this for a trivia/question: is this based on a real story?

Dylan: I would love it if it is. I mean it’s not at all unbelievable that contamination to a water supply creates mutant creatures. It happens. We just don’t see them very often and they usually don’t survive very long. So I doubt there was a situation where a monster came out of the water and started eating people.

Mark: Haha well no monsters have been reported. Yet.  But in 2000, a U.S. army mortician ordered hundreds of bottles of formaldehyde poured down the drain, resulting in direct contamination of the Han River.  This had become a huge legal battle with South Korea and the United States, and the actual legal proceedings are fairly interesting as they stand.  But in terms of the movie, the very beginning scene is based, somewhat, on fact.

Dylan: Wow, that’s a bit terrifying. So yea, there is definitely a message about the U.S. in there, which I guess is mostly negative. In conclusion, you’d recommend this movie? And would you say it’s better, worse, or equal to Cloverfield (or any other movie you can think of in the same genre).

Mark: Yeah I would.  I had my issues with the beginning, but my overall feeling for the movie makes me recommend it.  It’s worth watching to see how a different monster movie is done where the monster takes a backseat to the human characters.  In comparison to Cloverfield, it's much better.  For one, no fucking shaky cam and the characters are so much more relatable.

Dylan: And in the next couple of years we are likely getting a sequel, a Godzilla remake, and Pacific Rim, so it looks like big destructive monsters are the next fad. We’ll see how well they hold up against this one.

Mark: Ah, Pacific Rim. Sons of Anarchy vs. Cthulhu. Now that's a movie!

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What Mark's referring to is that Jackson and Clay -- recurring protagonist and antagonist, respectively -- from Sons of Anarchy will both be starring in Pacific Rim. More importantly is that Idris Elba will also be in it. And everyone EXCEPT Mark remembers him as Stringer Bell from The Wire. 

Our next movie will be Bernie, starring Jack Black. Neither of us have seen it or really heard much about it. All I know is that Black goes against his usual role as the goofy jackass. And that's enough to pique my curiosity. My quote this week has nothing to do with movies. "Winter is coming." And you all better be watching the season premiere of Game of Thrones tomorrow night.