The Host: How a Giant Catfish Made Me Sad

I saw four new films in the past week or so. One so-so film: Black Snake Moan (Craig Brewer tried to incorporate too many things and it just fell apart. Still, it had great music and a good cast.). One bad film: 300 (A midnight screening with LCD left both of us with completely opposite opinions as usual. Do I smell Head2head?). One excellent film: Zodiac. (Fincher shows his maturity by directing an incredibly well-paced police procedural.) That last film calls to mind one of my favorites, Memories of Murder, and that leads me into my review of The Host.

Joon-ho Bong’s first film since the brilliant Memories of Murder, The Host was just released in the states this weekend to overwhelming acclaim. But is this praise justified?

Bong’s two previous films were firmly set in the framework of a specific genre, but they managed to transcend what the audience was expecting. In my opinion, that is what Bong does best. He created two films that at first glance were extremely entertaining pieces, but with a little thought they offered much more than they let on.

With his latest, Bong attempts to do this again. The story is simple. A US military base pollutes the Han river, and years later a giant walking fish emerges, attacking and eating those on the waterfront.

The Park family owns a small shop on the waterfront. They are a dysfunctional family, to be sure, but still a loving and caring one. When the young daughter, Hyun-seo, is eaten by the creature, the family hysterically mourns. Soon afterwards though, to their surprise, they find out that she is still alive. Unfortunately, in the interim they have been quarantined by the government. No one will believe that the girl is still alive, and no one will let them go.

What follows is a blend of fast-paced action, family drama, big-brother dystopia and some scary CGI shocks. But unlike Bong’s previous films, there really isn’t much more in The Host than meets the eye. It was well-made and entertaining, but there were just too many missed opportunities. Some have labelled it anti-American, and there are some interesting jabs at American stubbornness, but it never quite reaches a point where it could offer anything really worthwhile.

This biggest problem with this film lies towards the end. The military has decided to destroy the monster and every other living thing in the vicinity by using a toxic chemical known as “Agent Yellow.” A group of protesters are massing at the dumping ground, and the family and the monster soon arrive for a final showdown. What could have been a great set piece was marred by choices that glossed some interesting moral issues.

SPOILER:

The monster arrives, and after it is knocked out by “Agent Yellow”, the family finds that they could not get to the girl in time. She is dead. This was a nice touch. Too many films have the all-too-happy ending. Then, however, after this emotional climax has been experienced by the audience, the monster reawakens. What follows is a slow motion set piece of the family killing this already wounded and dying monster. Taken alone, this scene is great. Funny, exciting, and very well-made. However, its place in the film did not seem justified. The daughter had died and the audience had already had their climax and emotional release. The monster was dying from chemicals that the military had dropped over the whole area. There was no need for this gleeful (read: sadistic) vengeance that the family inflicts. Especially after the movie was starting to wrap up nicely. Maybe this is the vegetarian in me talking, but I felt just as sorry for the monster as I did for the girl. The girl was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and the monster only existed. What’s wrong with that?

END SPOILER

That final quibble may seem small, but it really shifts the emotional and political center of the film in a counter-productive direction. It ended up being fairly shallow even though it had the material and talent to be something much more.

All this being said, I can still say The Host is a good film. A good film, but nothing that I feel the need to watch again. I will still recommend it to other viewers, but only as a mildly entertaining monster movie. Catch it, and forget it.