The Host

An American military base of Yongson releases toxic chemicals in the drain to the Han River under the direct order of an arrogant U. S. Army coroner. Six years later, a large monster appears on the riverbank to munch on fistfuls of passers-by. Stars Park Hee-bong (Byun Hee-Bong), a man in his late 60s. He runs a small snack bar on the banks of the Han River and lives with his two sons, one daughter, and one granddaughter. Hee-bong's elder son Gang-du (Song Kang-ho) is an immature and incompetent man in his 40s, whose wife left home long ago. Nam-il (Park Hae-il) is the youngest son, an unemployed grumbler, and daughter Nam-joo (Bae Doona) is an archery medalist and member of the national team. The enormous monster spreads panic and death, and Gang-du's daughter Hyun-seo (Ko Asung) is carried off by the monster and disappears. Others are also carried to its lair as snacks. Along the way, the motley family takes on lots of difficulties, risks, dangers to rescue the little girl. It is Lurking Behind You !. Man has made his newest predator !. Monsters are real !. You are what it eats !. Out of the darkness, something is ready to start feeding !. It's war!.

This creature feature is South Korea's all-time boxoffice champ to date, having been seen by 14 million of the country's 48 million inhabitants. Containing a ecologist denounce when careless pollution by the US military spawns a huge fleet-footed amphibian thingummy. Constructed around graceful digital effects (courtesy of San Francisco outfit, The Orphanage) , this movie skilfully strings together nail-biting scares , plucky heroism , jet black comedy as a dysfunctional family set aside their differences to rescue their daughter from the beastie's clutches. There'a a misfit group of roles among the family members who hold emotional volatility, but 'The Host' also moves beyond the genre formula, since it's rooted in burning indignation that the working class folk at the centre of events are simply ignored by high-handed authorities in thrall to the Americans -a significant issue in a nation where democracy has recently taken root.

The motion picture was well directed by Bong Joon Ho. He has directed a few but successful films such as : ¨Mother¨ , ¨Tokyo¨ , ¨Parasite¨ ¨Snowpiercer¨(filmed in seventy-two days , this is Joon-ho Bong's first English-language film) and The Host . His filmography is characterized by emphasis on social themes, genre-mixing, black humor, and sudden tone shifts. He first became known to audiences and achieved a cult following with his directorial debut film, the black comedy Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000), before achieving both critical and commercial success with his subsequent films: the crime thriller Memories of Murder (2003), and the black comedy thriller Parasite (2019), all of which are among the highest-grossing films in South Korea, with Parasite also being the highest-grossing South Korean film in history; Parasite also became the first South Korean film to receive Academy Award nominations, with Bong winning Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay, making Parasite the first film not in English to win Best Picture. The Host rating: 7/10. Better than average.

A release of chemicals into Seoul's Han River has an immediate and deadly impact when a mutation occurs within the animal life. The extent of this is made very clear when a massive creature attacks those enjoying a summer's day in the park. Many are killed, including young Hyun-seo. The military move in, quarantining everyone despite their grief. However Hyun-seo is still alive having been dumped in the creatures layer, deep in the sewer and uses a mobile recovered from another body to contact her father. Nobody believes his claims that his daughter is still alive though, so the family go out to hunt down the creature.

From the plot summary you would be forgiven for believing this to be a simple creature feature and indeed this idea is reinforced by a really stylish and exciting opening twenty minutes. Sadly this is not continued or indeed ever matched as the film seems to have far too many ideas and themes and far too little idea of how to pull them all together into a coherent or engaging story. It happens at the start with a clumsy and obvious "message" scene about pollution but I forgave this since everything from there went so well and the attack on the park was so professionally done. The sense of panic and voyeurism is conveyed convincingly while the action is so exciting. Once past this though we get lots of stuff about military intervention, mistrust of authorities, US intervention in Korea, foreign corporations and the inability of the man in the street to stop (or care about) any of it – or, as my partner described it, "lots of random sh1t". I do not agree with her rather harsh summary because in theory there is plenty of value in the themes and ideas that the film tries to work with and I could even accept it if I had not understood everything because I do not have the Korean frame of reference.

The problem was though that it didn't come together and the allegories and thematic content only served to slow and dull the film while also completely throwing any hope of a consistent tone. So we get suffering thrown up against comedy; horror thrown up against conspiracy; politics thrown up against family threads etc. And none of them merge at all with the end result of a film that constantly had me wondering where it was all going and, more importantly, when was it going to end? The latter question is valid because, with all these ideas the film runs to almost two hours – a trifle if a film engages you but for one this messy and erratic it is far too long a running time for this to carry.

The cast seem as lost as I was at times and their performances vary wildly. They are asked to be real people but yet also expected to carry the poor mix of humour, horror and political meaning and they cannot manage it. Ah-sung has the easiest ride as she is very much in the horror part of the film but the rest (Kang-ho, Hie-bong and Hae-il) has significantly harder roles that they cannot save from the rest of the film. Joon-ho's direction on the action and horror sequences is impressive and it is a shame that he fudges almost every other aspect of it.

The overall result is a horror movie that simply never gets close to the impact of the opening few scenes. The horror is lost in a clumsy and ineffective attempt at wider meaning and at two hours, it is far too long to sustain itself – long outstaying its welcome. Unfortunately this is one Korean film that does not deserve the hype and is only worth seeing for the excellent opening attack sequence.

It's a picturesque afternoon in the park near the river. Kids run gleefully as parents set up picnic lunches and enjoy the sunshine. Young couples lay together on blankets, friends toss a Frisbee - it's just about perfect... except for the giant creature hanging from the bridge.

Parkgoers quickly gather to gape at the mysterious something. They ooh and aah when the great beast slides into to water and eases its way over to the shallows, idling just beneath the surface. No one senses any cause for alarm. They lean closer and toss snacks into the river, as if it's a cute family of ducks.

But ducks don't have teeth like this thing.

The crowd erupts into panic as the monster reveals its lethal force and ravenous appetite. Among the crowd scurrying for their lives are an old food shack owner, his young granddaughter, and her dad. The dad displays his bravery by facing the monster, but he also displays also his imperfections by... well, I won't spoil that part.

Director and writer Bong Joon Ho cleverly details the family's dysfunction through subtle dialogue before the monster chase and in the aftermath. This family is a ragtag group without much clue about what to do, but they are nevertheless relatable and easy to root for.

Though the horror aspect is feature most prominently, the film contains layers beneath the surface for those interested in further examination. Bong Joon Ho manages to weave together elements of a family comedy, social satire, environmental conservation, and of course, a monster horror movie.

This is unequivocally Bong's movie. He expertly directs chase scenes with thrilling camera movements and engrossing framing choices that make you lean forward in your seat with excitement while you also partially cover your eyes in fear. It's a fascinating paradox.

In quieter moments, Bong unveils a novel's worth of background information through a few purposeful conversations between characters. Listen closely or you'll miss important details and have to watch the movie again. You'll probably want to anyway.

The Host is by far one of the best monster movies in years. The movie follows a bumbling young father, Gang-Do Park, and his family. The story starts like every monster movie; everything is calm and uneventful, "business as usual" you might say. When a mutated fish creature comes along the river bank and begins killing anyone in its path. Amidst all of the confusion, Gang-Do's daughter, Hyun-seo, is picked up by the monster and dragged back to the sewer. The story then turns into a search for Hyun-seo. Gang-Do and his family evade the authorities and use all the money they have to desperately continue their quest.

The reason I picked up this movie in the first place is because the box said that it was "on par with Jaws." I found this hard to believe but the monster in The Host is the one of the most cinematically pleasing CG creations in recent years and is probably the most original looking monster since Alien. It was legitimately scary looking and had a very unique style of moving that set it apart from previous monsters. Another strength of this monster is how well the CG is done. It does not just look like some computer generated figure spliced into live action footage. It looks like it belongs in the shot. The monster also has enough on screen time to make the movie suspenseful. The movie keeps the viewer wanting to see more of the monster while, at the same time, keeping them satisfied with the number of appearances.

The Park family does a pretty good job of keeping the audience entertained while the monster is off screen. The relationship that Gang-Do shares with his father, "college man" brother, and professional archer sister maintains a balance of drama and humor that the audience can appreciate. This dynamic seems strange but the movie makes it work. You start to really feel like these people are family. The best thing about these characters is that you are not disappointed when they are on the screen. Some monster movies seem to get kind of boring when the monster is off screen (Godzilla 1998).

The weakest thing about this movie, as it is with most foreign films, is the English translation and dubbing. After a while it becomes bearable but in the beginning it sounds absolutely awful. I don't say this very often because, like many Americans, I hate reading subtitles. But I think this one time I would have made the exception because the voice acting was just terrible. They just didn't seem to fit the characters very well. The dialogue in some scenes is very awkward as well. Some of the English translation just sounds out of place. This happens a lot with language barriers, however, and sometimes it just cannot be helped. If you want to watch something that is not meant to be in your language, you've just got to go with what you get.

I started off saying that this is one of the best monster movies in years, and it is. It's not perfect, but what monster movie is? It has some flaws but the originality of the monster and the simplicity of the plot makes this movie very easy to follow and worth watching at the very least. It is pretty good for what it is. The whole "monster terrorizing an Asian town" seems like it has been done a million times (because it has), but this movie has some new things to offer. Would I call this movie "on par with Jaws"? I wouldn't personally, but it is definitely better than some of the cheesy messes that monster movies have made in the past.

I have mixed feelings about this film. On one hand the first attack is one of the best creature feature sequences in film history in my opinion. The curiosity of the public to this big octopus looking creature in the water leading into the sheer panic and dread as the camera pans onto it charging towards the group from a distance without changing camera angles is purely brilliant and horrifying, and the ensuing madness (in particular a scene inside a large container) is truly terrifying to witness. However, after this initial attack, the film slowly devolves into a second rate family drama with less intense and spread out attacks from the continually less intimidating beast. The conclusion nearly wraps up the film but the expectations built up by the first 20 minutes lead to an ultimately disappointing viewing experience. That said, the film is far superior to the majority of Hollywood monster movies and is worth watching just for the harrowing opening scenes, so give it a watch if you're looking for an inconsistent but watchable creature feature.