A bunch of formaldehyde gets poured down the drain and in a
few years’ time, a big scaly monster is running around South Korea eating
people. A food truck worker is
devastated when his daughter is carried off by the monster. Since he came in close contact with the beast,
he is taken away by the government and placed in quarantine. While awaiting examination, he gets a call
from his daughter and breaks out of quarantine with his family in order to find
her.
Director Joon-ho (Snowpiercer) Bong does a good job at getting the show on the road. He sketches the characters quickly and the likeable
performances ensure that we care about them every step of the way.
I also liked the way he created jump scares through clever editing
instead of just throwing a cat into the scene.
The monster design is pretty rad. It looks like a cross between The Relic and
Godzilla. I also dug the way it swung
itself around using its tail.
The Host is full of memorable monster-mashing moments and
inventive scenes of carnage and survival. It probably didn’t warrant a two-hour running
time though. It could’ve used a nip and
a tuck here and there (the scenes that try to make a commentary on the SARS outbreak don’t
quite), but it's definitely a lot of fun, especially when the monster is
running amuck.
AKA: Monster.
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