Turning Your Brown Eyes Blue
In the not to distant future the surviving mankind is in hiding as parasitic aliens have come to the planet and infected the majority of humans. Melanie (Saoirse Ronan) was one of these survivors until she was eventually caught and infected with an alien parasite soul which was suppose to reveal what Melanie knew of the surviving humans but Melanie's own soul remains strong and persuades the alien soul known as Wanderer to escape from where she is being interrogated by The Seeker (Diane Kruger). With Melanie suffering an internal fight with her alien soul she heads to where her uncle Jeb (William Hurt) lives with a group of humans including her boyfriend Jared (Max Irons) who wants her dead as she is infected. But they wait and Ian O'Shea (Jake Abel) is assigned to guard her falling in love with the Wanderer side of her. Meanwhile The Seeker is on her trail.
When I see the name Andre Niccol as director and writer I think good because this will be a thought provoking movie. But when it comes to "The Host" I also spotted the name Stephenie Meyer also attached alongside Niccol's name and for those who don't Stephenie Meyer wrote the "Twilight" novels. Unfortunately what I will call the Meyer's element of "The Host", the eventual love triangle aspect, overwhelms much of what Niccol's brings to the movie. The upshot of all this is that "The Host" ended up an entertainingly visual movie but one which is a slog.
Now I have a strong feeling that "The Host" was not made for me in mind especially with the romantic slant which sees a love triangle forming. But even before we get to the romance part there is a ridiculously ponderous nature to the movie as scenes appear to be drawn out as Melanie is interrogated. In fairness this wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the intentionally emotionless, vacant characters who speak with no passion what so ever. I will be truthful and say this is one movie I considered abandoning because it was too laborious and painful.
What I will say is that what Niccol's delivers is a strong visual movie and it is at times beautiful and others surreal. For me I needed more than the visuals but for those who enjoyed the love triangle aspect of the story will probably be entertained by the strong visuals.
What this all boils down to is that "The Host" was not for me and was a laborious experience which didn't reward me with sticking with it. But for those who enjoy the writing of Stephenie Meyer might enjoy the romantic love triangle which this movie builds to.
