After romanticising vampires and shape shifters (they are not werewolves, and I will never refer to them as such) with the Twilight Saga, author Stephanie Meyer turned her attention to aliens with The Host, which took the love triangle of Twilight and dropped it into the middle of a alien invasion scenario. Considering the success of the Twilight movies, it was only a matter of time before The Host would make it's way to the big screen, and now it does so courtesy of writer/director Andrew Niccol, who is no stranger to sci-fi, having given us Gattaca and In Time. But even with a very interesting idea at its core, and a strong eye for the genre behind the camera, The Host falls flat.
In the future, Earth is a peaceful utopia, a result of an invasion by the parasitic Souls. Using human bodies as hosts, completely extinguishing their minds, they have assumed complete control of the planet with only a small band of humans offering any resistance. When Melanie (Saoirse Ronan) is captured and implanted with a relatively young Soul named Wanderer, her mind isn't completely snuffed out. Exerting a small amount of control, she forces the alien to search for her family in a last ditch effort to protect them. When she finds them, Wanderer begins to experience what it is like to be truly human.
The Host starts off well enough, completely selling the idea of this oppressive world. As concepts go, it is a unique one, turning the familiar idea of the alien body snatcher on it's head. But with the set up out of the way, the movie goes down hill fast. Ironic, since the story moves forward at a snails pace. Once Wanderer finds the human resistance, led by William Hurt, the movie slows to a crawl, each scene seemingly existing to reiterate that Wanderer is not trusted. Being a major plot point, the love triangle (or should it be rectangle since Wanderer is established to be a separate person?) between Wanderer/Melanie, Jared (Max Irons), and Ian (Jake Abel) is mishandled, being wrapped up way too easily, and not given any emotional depth to begin with. There is nothing at stake here. We never once feel that people are in danger, that everything won't just work out and be tied up in a nice, neat little bow. The story limps to it's predictable conclusion, then the final scene negates everything that came before, rendering Wanderer's journey null and void.
Saoirse Ronan has proven herself way better than this time and time again. She is quite wooden as Wanderer, which is probably the point, but you never feel anything towards the character. The Melanie character exists mostly as a disembodied voice, which becomes grating on more than one occasions. Diane Kruger is wasted as the Seeker, the Soul assigned to wipe out the resistance. She is built up to be a major threat, disappears for long stretches, then reappears for a finale that fizzles out without realising there is still nearly 20 minutes to go. And William Hurt makes no impact what so ever, which is a huge surprise. It's William Hurt!!
The Host is a great idea, and even greater talent, wasted on a flat and unoriginal story. If the source material didn't exist, and this was an original idea, it could have been much better. But as it is, it's a missed opportunity.
In the future, Earth is a peaceful utopia, a result of an invasion by the parasitic Souls. Using human bodies as hosts, completely extinguishing their minds, they have assumed complete control of the planet with only a small band of humans offering any resistance. When Melanie (Saoirse Ronan) is captured and implanted with a relatively young Soul named Wanderer, her mind isn't completely snuffed out. Exerting a small amount of control, she forces the alien to search for her family in a last ditch effort to protect them. When she finds them, Wanderer begins to experience what it is like to be truly human.
The Host starts off well enough, completely selling the idea of this oppressive world. As concepts go, it is a unique one, turning the familiar idea of the alien body snatcher on it's head. But with the set up out of the way, the movie goes down hill fast. Ironic, since the story moves forward at a snails pace. Once Wanderer finds the human resistance, led by William Hurt, the movie slows to a crawl, each scene seemingly existing to reiterate that Wanderer is not trusted. Being a major plot point, the love triangle (or should it be rectangle since Wanderer is established to be a separate person?) between Wanderer/Melanie, Jared (Max Irons), and Ian (Jake Abel) is mishandled, being wrapped up way too easily, and not given any emotional depth to begin with. There is nothing at stake here. We never once feel that people are in danger, that everything won't just work out and be tied up in a nice, neat little bow. The story limps to it's predictable conclusion, then the final scene negates everything that came before, rendering Wanderer's journey null and void.
Saoirse Ronan has proven herself way better than this time and time again. She is quite wooden as Wanderer, which is probably the point, but you never feel anything towards the character. The Melanie character exists mostly as a disembodied voice, which becomes grating on more than one occasions. Diane Kruger is wasted as the Seeker, the Soul assigned to wipe out the resistance. She is built up to be a major threat, disappears for long stretches, then reappears for a finale that fizzles out without realising there is still nearly 20 minutes to go. And William Hurt makes no impact what so ever, which is a huge surprise. It's William Hurt!!
The Host is a great idea, and even greater talent, wasted on a flat and unoriginal story. If the source material didn't exist, and this was an original idea, it could have been much better. But as it is, it's a missed opportunity.
