Twilight's creator follows her vampire saga with visitors from another planet.
There was very little doubt that the next set of Stephanie ‘Twilight’ Mayer books would be up for grabs by all movie studios and so comes The Host; a kind of Invasion of the Body Snatchers without all the blasted screaming and horror element. I’m not entirely sure what the film wants to be, it’s not horrific, it’s not an action film, the sci-fi is contained and the philosophical question on what makes a ‘being’ human is not really asked to be answered. There is a strange love triangle amongst all the things that happen, which might raise an eyebrow...well almost. But at least in these moments the narrative doesn't get sordid…but perhaps it needed to.
"The Host is okayish, it won’t blow your underpants off and at over 2 hours with a few random bits rushed, you wonder just how well the book has been adapted."
In short, galaxy colonising aliens, that require a symbiotic host to survive, have finally made their way to Earth and have ‘peacefully’ taken over human bodies. Bringing a boring kind of silver and whitely order to the planet (you’ll understand when you watch the film) the total domination of the planet has been achieved without the consent of any human being. But for some reason, in the case of Melanie, played by Saoirse Ronan (Hanna, Atonement, Byzantium) her human consciousness has remained firmly intact along side the alien's and thus begins a battle of wills against her new owner. The conflict is not long lived and the 2 minds quickly fall into mutual co-operation. The alien, called Wanderer/Wanda and our Melanie find ‘their’ way to agreeing to find Mel’s family and in having to deal with the constant symbiosis, they also have to deal with one particular pursuing alien, who has a real hard-on for restoring order to Mel's body. Suffice to say the situation gets complicated when Mel is pursued, but makes it back to her people. As now her family, ex-lover and new lover and the host inside, are serving to create a new, tense dynamic that leaves everybody at odds with each other.
The Host is okayish, it won’t blow your underpants off and at over 2 hours with a few random bits rushed, you wonder just how well the book has been adapted. In comparison to Beautiful Creatures and Mortal Instruments, the latter of which I haven’t seen yet. I think The Host will probably stand out as being the most down to Earth and least melodramatic, but my truth be told Beautiful Creatures is far more entertaining, though more juvenile.
Rating 6/10
"The Host is okayish, it won’t blow your underpants off and at over 2 hours with a few random bits rushed, you wonder just how well the book has been adapted."
In short, galaxy colonising aliens, that require a symbiotic host to survive, have finally made their way to Earth and have ‘peacefully’ taken over human bodies. Bringing a boring kind of silver and whitely order to the planet (you’ll understand when you watch the film) the total domination of the planet has been achieved without the consent of any human being. But for some reason, in the case of Melanie, played by Saoirse Ronan (Hanna, Atonement, Byzantium) her human consciousness has remained firmly intact along side the alien's and thus begins a battle of wills against her new owner. The conflict is not long lived and the 2 minds quickly fall into mutual co-operation. The alien, called Wanderer/Wanda and our Melanie find ‘their’ way to agreeing to find Mel’s family and in having to deal with the constant symbiosis, they also have to deal with one particular pursuing alien, who has a real hard-on for restoring order to Mel's body. Suffice to say the situation gets complicated when Mel is pursued, but makes it back to her people. As now her family, ex-lover and new lover and the host inside, are serving to create a new, tense dynamic that leaves everybody at odds with each other.
The Host is okayish, it won’t blow your underpants off and at over 2 hours with a few random bits rushed, you wonder just how well the book has been adapted. In comparison to Beautiful Creatures and Mortal Instruments, the latter of which I haven’t seen yet. I think The Host will probably stand out as being the most down to Earth and least melodramatic, but my truth be told Beautiful Creatures is far more entertaining, though more juvenile.
Rating 6/10
RSS Feed
