The Host - 2006

Chandler - 3/11/13

The Host is a South Korean monster movie about a mutated fish in the Han River. The US poster has three quotes on it:

• "One of the greatest monster movies ever made."
• "On par with Jaws."
• "A knockout monster movie."

Upon its release, it set a South Korean record by selling 10 million tickets in just twenty one days. It won best film at the Asian Film Awards and Blue Dragon Film Awards. It made over $80 million dollars profit, more than 700% the cost of the film. It is critically acclaimed by the movie industry,  including Quentin Tarantino.

And... it's a waste of time.

The film doesn't know what it is. On one hand, we're led to believe it is a scary monster movie... but that fails miserably. The melodramatic acting, music, gags and fart jokes make you think it's a comedy (maybe even a self-aware movie like Gremlins)... but The Host provides more eye-rolls than laughs. And the movie is filled with examples of pollution, bureaucracy failures, American military occupation, Western arrogance, South Korean youth protests and lower-class poverty... so maybe it's a political satire? Perhaps... but it really comes off making South Koreans look stupid. I can't imagine this is what the director was trying to achieve.

The production value was high, but the CGI moster looked like crap. Basically, I'm not better off having watched this film.

Rating - 1