The Host

I went into this movie expecting something decent. Perhaps my hopes were a bit too high. First off, I have not read the book and now being aware of the whole plot, I definitely don't plan too. The plot never really went anywhere. It starts out with plenty of action and anticipation, but ultimately falls short and ends up being really boring and lacking any real conflict. At one point I thought Diane Kruger was going to save the film, but the character development was poor. Overall, the acting was weak, the plot never took off, it became a make out session with no emotional attachment to characters. I strongly recommend you not waste your time or money on this sorry excuse for a film.

This movie you will either enjoy or hate to be honest. If you want something that is action-packed and filled with cool sci-fi moments do not see this movie. Yes the movie is sci-fi but it's more about romance. It also is a tad slower.

However, the cast was fantastic and the script was beautiful. There were cheesy moments but it was still really sweet and well done. Basically what I am saying, is if you like romance with a twist go and see it! If you are expecting something like Gattaca, you will be disappointed.

I really loved the movie and felt it held up to the book. I usually hate movie versions of books but this was really good! If you like the book chances are you are going to like the movie. There are tweaks of course, but I thought they were mainly well done and helped get the same message across.

Let us establish some facts here 1)The host is not twilight 2) Saoirse Ronan is not Kristen Stewart and 3) (Melanie / Wanda), well we can argue that point, is Bella 3.0t. If I had seen this movie first i would have definitely liked it more than twilight. I love the psychological play in the movie, i liked the story, but I really really really loved Saoirse Ronan in that role. She played it marvelously well, and the director did a great job portraying her two personalities. I can't tell you what it was missing yet; I am not getting payed for this so i am allowed to not know. I encourage you to see it, I was pleasantly surprised. It is a solid 7/10 for me.

In the future, Earth has been invaded by aliens that take over the human bodies with their souls to live a perfect life in a world without crime, violence or war and with the environment restored. However, a few humans still resist to the invaders and they are chased by The Seekers.

When the teenager Melanie Stryder (Saoirse Ronan) that belongs to the resistance is captured by the leader of The Seekers (Diane Kruger), the alien Wanderer takes over her body expecting to find where the humans are hidden. But Melanie is still in her body and resists to the Wanderer and asks her to not tell to The Seeker what she has learned to protect her brother Jamie (Chandler Canterbury), her boyfriend Jared Howe (Max Irons) and her friends. Wanderer feels empathy for her and keeps the secret but The Seeker decides to put Wanderer in another body and take her body. Melanie asks Wanderer to flee to meet her friends in the middle of the desert.

When Melanie's uncle Jeb (William Hurt) finds her dehydrated in the desert, he brings Melanie to his hideout and calls her Wanda. He also protects her from a group led by Ian O'Shea (Jake Abel) but along the days, Ian falls in love with Wanda. Meanwhile The Seeker is obsessed hunting Wanda down in the desert.

"The Host" is a movie with wrong marketing that misguide the viewers that expect to see a tense or full of action sci-fi in the style of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and find a pleasant romance. The plot is developed in low pace disappointing a great number of viewers. But the story is actually beautiful despite the flaws.

The beginning is too rushed and there is a poor development of Melanie. It does not make sense why Jeb's group wants to kill Melanie when they find her in the desert if Doc is trying to save the humans removing the alien "souls" from them. If the aliens are so peaceful, why is The Seeker so evil? My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Hospedeira" ("The Host")

Note: On 12 March 2023, I saw this film again.

(2013) The Host SCIENCE-FICTION THRILLER

Underrated and original, co-written and directed by Andrew Niccol the dude who made 1997 "Gattaca" and co-wrote "The Truman Show" which they're way too many viewers who are still hung up on their "Twilight" movies. And the fact they know that it's based on a Stephanie Meyer's book turns viewers off which viewers are looking for reasons to hate this movie rather than enjoying it for what it is. It just seems viewers in general are unable to look pass this movie as another alien invasion movie. You know, upon attempting to even watch the first "Twilight" movie, I was unable to watch anymore after the first 10 minutes into it, and so far had never looked back. But upon seeing this movie, I was able to watch it all the way through, as the movie dealt with revelations and a somewhat complicated scenario that it would demand viewers full attention to it's dialogue. By looking at some of the criticisms, some had said that their wasn't enough romance or that it's too cheesy, but to tell you the truth, I hardly saw any romance at all, because it addresses a couple of what if's! Such as what if the alien is attracted to a different human being that's not the same as the one you're originally accustomed with, for the only criticism that I agree with from the overall consensus is that it's somewhat influenced by the original 1956 version of "The Invasion Of The Body Snatchers"- the aftermath that is- not the 1978 version starring Donald Sutherland. The reason is that much of the aliens had already inhabited much of the planet earth already, and at first viewers assumed that the aliens intentions are violent which that may not be the case at all. If viewers remember their science-fiction classics there's also inspired remnants of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" but on a different level. Starring Saoirse Ronan who in my opinion, is a much better actress than the 'one- note' and amateurish Kirsten Stewart on the Twilight movies, she plays Melanie Stryder who's attempting to run away from these alien- like captors, which you can tell by looking at their eyes. She jumps out of a second or third story window, and the aliens revive her, but this time with one of them injecting a liquid into her so that she can cooperate with them. Although, her alien self gave herself a new name called Wanda, short for "wanderings" her original self, Melanie still has a presence inside of her and is still alive. The reason is that was so, that her new alien self would retrieve information on clues and hints of other leads regarding other human beings whereabouts, operating like an underground movement. For the objective is evident, but the reasons are still not clear until near the end since the alien self, Wanda did submit a reason. One of them is so that they can take over the earth as they had successfully inhabited other planets. At first, we assume that once aliens had inhabited someone's body like in "The Invasion of The Body Snatchers" or even "The Thing", that their original self can't be revived again, but in this original film it's direction is completely the opposite which the reason we watch these kind of movies is so that we are able to see things that may not be possible in real life. What is wrong with this concept, it is because theirs nothing wrong with it, and may be the first intelligent movie author Stephanie Meyer had ever done since she took up writing.