All hell breaks loose when a large sea monster appears in the city.
The Host was the movie I was most looking forward to watching in 2006. Director Bong Joon-ho has made movies such as Mother, Parasite, and Memories of Murder, which for me is the best serial killer movie I’ve seen. Song Kang-ho who played the cop in Memories of Murder has the leading role in The Host.
The Host broke all records in South Korea when it was released. I remember all movie nerds were talking about The Host. They showed the movie in theaters all over the world, which doesn’t happen that often with Asian movies. At least not with movies from South Korea.
If you think this is an ordinary monster movie that borrows ideas from for example Tremors where a monster goes crazy in the big city and causes Godzilla panic, then you are wrong! I wouldn’t call The Host a pure monster movie. There are two monsters in the movie, humans and the sea monster. It’s up to the viewers to judge who the biggest monster is, but most viewers will come to the same conclusion. The biggest monster is humans.
We follow a family that’s not directly the sharpest knife in the drawer. They only have each other. When the sea monster takes the youngest girl in the family with it, the family is devastated. Eventually, they find out that the girl is alive, and the search to find her is on.
They face opposition from the authorities, who are only interested in finding out what kind of virus the sea monster is spreading around. The girl’s father is harassed, and used as a guinea pig since he’s been in contact with the sea monster. The authorities aren’t interested in finding the girl, nor do they show initiative to find the sea monster. They are only interested in finding a virus that may not exist at all. The Host focuses on social commentary, and the sea monster plays a small part. It’s the family against the sea monster, not the authorities against the sea monster.
The Host falls into the comedy/drama/thriller category. The movie is so beautiful to look at, and there are so many good visual scenes. I think this is the best visual movie Boong Joon-ho has made. The cinematography is amazing. I love the colors, and the camera movement is from another world. Especially the camera movement under the bridge is amazing to watch!
We get to know the family and especially the father of the girl who was taken by the sea monster. The sea monster is well made, knowing that The Host is a movie from South Korea. Had it been a Hollywood movie, it could have been better. There are some weaknesses here and there. But overall the CGI is good. Remember, the movie is from 2006.
The Host is suspenseful and engaging. All the actors do a brilliant job, and there’s not a single weak link in the movie. We have the girl against the sea monster and the rest of the family against the authorities. But sooner or later they will face the sea monster, so who will win?
The first 25 minutes are some of the best I’ve ever seen in my life. It doesn’t take long for the sea monster to emerge, and the long sequence that follows is what you call great and powerful art. My nipples always get hard when the sea monster comes ashore and wreak havoc! The score, the action choreography, and how they use the camera are so good you could think Bong Joon-ho is from another planet!
In the beginning, the movie keeps a light and comedic tone. But this tone disappears when the protagonist is oppressed and abused by the authorities. It’s nauseating to see how they treat him because he’s not so good at talking. He’s not stupid, but he needs some time to gather his thoughts and express himself.
Was The Host a disappointment when I first saw it in 2006-2007? No, I knew what was waiting for me. This is a movie that engages. People who think this is just a monster movie like Tremors and Godzilla will be disappointed and they are watching the wrong movie! In this movie, you have to use your brain and go a little deeper. This is a movie that addresses many topics. Some topics are easy to understand. But there are other things here that one must read afterward to understand everything Bong Joon-ho is trying to say.
The Host is a smart and good movie that has everything I could want. In my opinion, The Host is the director’s second-best movie after Memories of Murder. Visually, this is his best movie.