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The Host
Tagline: You Will Be One Of Us
Not content with inflicting the Twilight Saga on the world, author Stephenie Meyer’s next epic love story, The Host, is now with us. Resistance to her work seems somewhat futile by now, as it’s difficult to escape the massive marketing push surrounding her work no matter what territory you live in. Not for nothing is the movie’s tagline “You Will Be One Of Us.”
Directed by Andrew Niccol (The Truman Show, Gattaca), his protagonist of Melanie Stryder (Saoirse Ronan) attempts to look after the people that matter the most to her: Jared (Max Irons), Ian (Jake Abel), her brother Jamie (Chandler Canterbury) and Uncle Jeb (William Hurt). What’s giving her and them considerable cause for concern? Only an unseen enemy that threatens mankind by taking over human bodies and erasing memories. Good luck with that.
And good luck with the rest of the reviews improving upon early word. Not one but two writers weigh in at Urban Cinefile. Louise Keller thinks that, “the film is at its most ridiculous when Saoirse Ronan is kissed by Max Irons (Jeremy’s son) and Jake Abel in quick succession in a bid to identify who they are kissing: the girl or the alien who has taken over her body.” And Andrew L. Urban concludes that, “the film is indistinguishable from a lemon, put together by a serial set of errors of artistic judgment.” Meanwhile, Matt’s Movie Reviews believes that, “like everything else brand Stephenie Meyer, The Host is a mostly empty, dull and underwhelming genre re-hash. Here’s praying that poor box office makes it the last of its kind.”
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