The Host: The Best Monster Movie

"The Host" or "Gwoemul" is the best monster movie I have seen in I can't remember how long. A Korean film with subtitles, "The Host" gives hope to the big creature genre.

Slacker dad Park Gang-Du (Song Kang-ho)works at a stand next to the river, owned by his father Park Hee-bong, (Byun Hee-bong). Gang-Du's daughter Park Hyun-seo (Ko A-sung) is a delightful ball of innocent sunshine, who tries to keep her dad in line. Park Hae-il plays Park Nam-il, Hyun-seo's ultra responsible uncle, resentful of Gang-Du's laziness. Rounding out the family is the meek Olympic archer aunt Park Nam-joo (Bae Doo-na).

A few years after a massive chemical disaster, out pops the creature from the river. Hunting on the crowded bank of the Han River, mass panic ensues creating one of the best creature chase scenes ever filmed. The perfectly generated creature grabs people left and right, gobbling them down until he disappears as quickly as he came. Fearful of disease, the people at the river or in direct contact with the creature are rounded up and put in sterilization and testing areas. Gang-Du, Hie-bong, Nam-il, Nam-Joo all set out to find the monster and kill it but first they have to break out of the quarantine area. They have to avoid the military, the officials and other people to even have a chance to find the monster.

For years I've been asking myself if a plot rich in character development, social statement, humor and drama is too much to ask of a monster movie. "The Host" has answered my question with a resounding, NO! Writers Baek Chul-hyun, Bong Joon-ha, Jun-won Ha, monster movie creation is more than just a cool monster who eats people. The way the monster is handled is a statement to their feeling on bureaucracy; bumbling idiots. Each of the characters actually develops personally and changes socially by the end of the movie. They didn't bother to make the monster anything emotional or anthropomorphize the creature. Instead they made him so fantastically original, he is utterly captivating. "The Host" masterfully adds humor to the movie with out relegating it to campy. Director Bong Joon-ho makes sensational work of the balance between fun and flighty; hitting fun spot on and letting flighty flap away.

My two favorite characters are Gang-Du and Hee-bong. In the beginning of the film you'd think Gang-Du could never care about anyone other than himself. During the chase scenes on the bank of the river, your ideas about him change as his own ideas of himself change. A once vacant slacker, his courage and paternal instincts surprised me. Hee-bong, Gang-Du's father provides almost all the sweet sentiment not provided by the daughter. He reminisces about the past, forgives his son's misgivings and spends a good portion of the movie trying to break up fights. To call him an enabler would be to understate his role in his son's development but you can't dislike a man so incredibly sweet.

Park Hae-il's portrayal of a resentful brother creates some of the best non-creature tension and intrapersonal humor. After the attack scene of the bank of the Han River, the family is visiting the memorial and Gang-Du and Nam-il get in a bickering match. The bickering quickly escalates into downright yelling and eventually into a wussy brawl. The two men trying to get the upper hand with out ever hurting the other. The consequence is a laugh out loud funny display of misplaced grief mixed with testosterone. In several other scenes Nam-il and Gang Du's fights are comical, making small spaces seem even smaller, and filled with palpable resentment.

The creature, which is never given a name, is perfectly generated. His movements seem natural. He isn't so fantastic that you can't believe he could actually exist but he is original enough that he doesn't feel rehashed. The way he keeps his food is disgusting and fascinating. Though it does make you wonder what kind of mind could come up with such a creature.

"The Host" is fan-freakin'-tastic!