The Host (Gwoemul)

Release Year: 2006

Director: Bong Joon-Ho

Review: South Korean director Bong Joon-ho's highly anticipated follow up film to 'Memories of Murder', about a monster who is loose in the Han river.  Song Kanh-ho is cast again in the lead role, one which isvery different from the one he had in Bong's previous film.  In 'The Host' he plays a slow witted father of a young girl.  After the initial monster attack his daughter is taken by the monster.  He, his father and his siblings go on an against-all-odds quest to kill the monster.  

Despite the praise I can't help but feel that this is a mediocre monster flick.  A lot is added to it's cause by injecting political issues subtly into the plot. By handling these issues in the scope of a comedic monster movie they can be presented without getting preachy.  It's also not afraid to show you the monster.  From the start you know exactly what everyone is up against.  While I appreciate the boldness, the CG didn't quite back up the effort and was a little distracting.  Regardless of the believability of the monster, this wasn't that compelling of a story.  There were too many plot weaknesses.  I never bought the responses from the Korean and American government.  Everything was just all to convenient.  The whole concept of the family drama never went anywhere.  It was just a failed ploy to be able to have them come together and form a team for the hunt.  Only it doesn't work.  The fact that each member had their own special ability, if you will, almost made it seem like I was watching a superhero movie.  I knew exactly how the finale would go down, and when it did happen it wasn't even handled in a satisfying way.  The entire film was building to the climax which could have redeemed it, but was ultimately a let down.  There is a lot of fun to be had, but in general this is just an adequate monster movie with not much more going for it.
Rating: 3/5