The Host Review

Rated PG-13 (Some Sensuality and Violence)

Running Time: 2 Hours & 5 Minutes

Cast-

Saoirse Ronan-Melanie Stryder/Wanderer/Wanda

Max Irons-Jared Howe

Jake Abel-Ian O'Shea

William Hurt-Jeb Stryder

Diane Kruger-The Seeker

Chandler Canterbury-Jamie Stryder

Boyd Holbrook-Kyle O'Shea

Scott Lawrence-Doc

Frances Fisher-Maggie Stryder

Directed by Andrew Niccol

Based on the novel from Stephenie Meyer, "The Host" finds humanity invaded by a parasitic alien race.

Note: Screened on Thursday, March 21, 2013 at Regal E-Walk Stadium 13.

Everybody wants a piece of that pie. What pie could I be referring to? Well, the 'pie' can be anything. In the video game industry, the proverbial pie is none other than Activision's multi-billion dollar first-person shooter franchise "Call of Duty." Last November's "Call of Duty: Black Ops II" grossed $1 billion in just fifteen days. What company wouldn't want that kind of success? Unfortunately, it's not that easy as Electronic Art's rival game "Medal of Honor: Warfighter" sold poorly in its first week of release and garnered mixed reviews. Hollywood pretty much operates in a similar manner. If one studio does something successful, others will try to emulate it. The films adapted from Stephenie Meyer's wildly popular Twilight novels went on to become a box office juggernaut and by the end of its five-year run, the series had made over $3.3 billion worldwide. That is a lot of pie and not surprisingly, every other studio wanted a piece of it. Last month saw the release of "Beautiful Creatures," based on the novel of the same name from Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, but the film was a massive flop. It's struggling to earn $20 million domestically while worldwide grosses can't even cover its $60 million production budget…and I actually liked the film! Now we have "The Host," adapted from another of Stephenie Meyer's novels by writer/director Andrew Niccol. Open Road Films and Metropolitan Filmexport are obviously banking on this to be the next "Twilight" considering the novel is from the same author yet the buzz has strangely been muted. Expecting box office success on the level of that film is probably out of the question but "The Host" is definitely superior in comparison. While it's teen love triangle can feel silly at times and the pacing is on the slow side, the intriguing sci-fi angle and an engaging female protagonist manages to overcome the film's more glaring flaws. 

In the not-too-distant future, Earth no longer belongs to humanity as the minds and bodies of almost every human are now inhabited by a parasitic alien race known as 'Souls.' War, poverty, and disease have been virtually eliminated, transforming the planet into the perfect utopia yet scattered groups of humans continue to resist and are hunted down by 'Seekers.' Hiding out in an abandoned hotel, twenty-one year old Melanie Stryder (Saoirse Ronan) is found by one such Seeker (Diane Kruger). To save her younger brother Jaime (Chandler Canterbury), Melanie distracts the Seeker and jumps out of a window when cornered, choosing death over living a life as a host. However, she survives her fall and is surgically implanted with a Soul calling itself 'Wanderer.' The Seeker asks Wanderer to access her host's memories in the hopes of finding other 'wild' humans but Melanie is still alive, trapped inside her own mind. She attempts to re-exert control over her own body and this struggle leads to Wanderer learning of Jared Howe (Max Irons), Melanie's lover. Constantly bombarded by Melanie's memories of Jared and Jaime, Wanderer escapes from the Seeker's captivity in order to find the 'Healer' responsible for her implantation and switch to another, more compliant, host. Driving out to the desert, Melanie forces Wanderer to crash as she wants to look for her Uncle Jeb's (William Hurt) hideout. Left with little choice, Wanderer agrees. After traveling for days and suffering from dehydration, they are found by Jeb, who leads them to an elaborate system of underground caves. Here, a small group of humans carve out a meager existence, away from the prying eyes of the Seekers. Among them are Jared and Jaime but they, along with everyone else, treat Wanderer with outward hostility. Jeb takes to calling Wanderer 'Wanda' and slowly, she wins over the other humans with her kindness. Jared eventually learns that Melanie is still alive while Ian O'Shea (Jake Abel) develops feelings for Wanda, creating a complicated love triangle. At the same time, the Seeker relentlessly pursues Wanderer, seeing her as a threat to the status quo. 

Many will agree that Stephenie Meyer isn't a very good writer but "The Host" proves that the author may actually have a few good ideas up her sleeve. Right off the bat, I can see why Andrew Niccol signed on to adapt the novel into a film. From "Gattaca" to "In Time," Niccol is well-known for tackling societal and political issues through the use of science fiction. The central premise of humans being inhabited by a parasitic alien race is a familiar one. It's reminiscent of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (and it's many derivatives) but the film owes more to the works of Arthur C. Clarke, particularly his 1953 novel Childhood's End. Like the Overlords in Clarke's book, Meyer's Souls are not inherently evil. They truly believe that they are helping humanity. War, poverty, and disease may no longer exist but such a peace comes at a massive cost; by taking over a human's mind and body, the Souls are effectively killing them. When the few remaining humans try to forcibly remove the Souls, they view it as murder despite the fact that the Souls are doing the very same thing. It creates an intriguing situation where you're not exactly sure who to root for since both sides are just trying to survive. Most of the human characters react with hostility toward Souls and understandably so. By experiencing Melanie's memories, Wanderer comes to exhibit humanity's best traits and discovers what it means to 'be human,' with the story reaffirming how 'the power of love' can overcome an alien invasion. Yes, it's ridiculously clichéd and hokey yet it works thanks to an engaging main character…or two. Books have the luxury of revealing a character's innermost thoughts but in a film, this has to be externalized in some way. When Wanderer is implanted into Melanie's body, Melanie is represented by a disembodied voice. While a little jarring at first, you get used to it over time. Although Wanderer is more timid compared to the tomboyish Melanie, what I liked was the fact that they were not defined by the men around them and were capable of making their own choices. In the "Twilight" films, Bella would always fall into a depressed stupor whenever Edward or Jacob wasn't around. It got to the point where she just sacrificed her hopes and dreams just to be a vampire. The sacrifice in "The Host" makes more sense as Wanderer comes to realize that she (and by extension, her species) has no right to take over the minds and bodies of others. Ironically, it is the central male characters that are defined by Melanie/Wanderer. Both Jared and Ian fall into the 'manly man' and 'sensitive guy' tropes, and are little more than a teenage girl's fantasy. This being a romance film marketed toward teens, the dialogue can get rather cheesy and the love triangle is silly fluff. Jared wants to be with Melanie but she's trapped within her own mind. Ian falls in love with Wanderer even though her real physical form resembles a cross between a sea slug and a centipede. This leads to a number of humorous scenes where Wanderer is prevented by Melanie from being with Ian while Melanie longs for Jared yet there's the whole thing with her not being in control of her own body. This running in circles tends to bog down on the pacing and there were moments where I wished the film would just get on with it. Still, I did enjoy "The Host," flaws and all. Sure, the film can get heavy-handed and too melodramatic (especially with Antonio Pinto's overbearing score) at times but it has a thematic richness that was absent in "Twilight." 

A good character needs an equally good actor and Niccol chose well with Saoirse Ronan. It's literally night and day when compared to Kristen Stewart's mopey performance. This is one of Ronan's more mainstream roles but she commits to it like any other and perfectly captures the internal struggle that rages inside her character. "The Host" is a better film because of Ronan, who remains mesmerizing on-screen even when the pacing starts to slack. Similar to Billy Burke's Charlie Swan, William Hurt is a delight as Uncle Jeb thanks to his spot-on deadpan humor. As the film's antagonist, Diane Kruger is fine, although I feel the script missed an opportunity to flesh out her character. There are hints that like Melanie, she is not entirely in control of her host's body but it remains a little too vague. It is possible the novel elaborates on this. Unfortunately, Ronan's male co-stars don't make much of an impression. Max Irons and Jake Abel are pretty much just hunks of meat that constantly swoon over Melanie/Wanderer. That's fine for all the teenage girls in the audience but not so much for me, especially since I'm one of the people critiquing the film. 

"The Host" won't be released until March 29, 2013 so take solace in the fact that this is one of the first reviews you're reading. Critics can be a fickle bunch but I don't see this film garnering a wholly positive reception. It may not be as reviled as "Twilight" yet I wouldn't be surprised if it landed in the 50% range on Rotten Tomatoes. One thing I can say with certainty is that it's definitely not going to be the huge box office hit that "Twilight" was. The buzz just isn't there and the large number of empty seats at Thursday's advance screening reflected this. Plus, it's going up against "G.I. Joe: Retaliation." With Stephenie Meyer's name plastered all over the marketing, the film will avoid the disastrous fate of "Beautiful Creatures" but this will be another mid-level hit at best. Fans of Meyer's work will love "The Host" and it is a legitimately better film compared to its more popular counterpart. It's still a silly love story but if Hollywood insists on making more of these, at least let them be more like this one.

Final Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Wanderer: It's a strange world.

Burns: The strangest.