Thursday, April 4, 2013

[The Host: A Film Review]

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Movie Summary (via IMDB)

When an unseen enemy threatens mankind by taking over their bodies and erasing their memories, Melanie will risk everything to protect the people she cares most about, proving that love can conquer all in a dangerous new world.
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My Thoughts:

So, lets talk about The Host.  Some people seem to be loving it and some people seem to be hating it.  I had to go and see what my thoughts would be and to be honest, I fall somewhere in the middle!  It was a movie that I enjoyed, but because I have read and really liked the book, it also seemed super corny at times.

The visuals, the costuming and for the most part the casting were all interesting.  It was a beautiful film and the sets and grime of the characters every day life was displayed brilliantly.  And the score and soundtrack were amazing as well!  I thought the actors did what they could with what they were given.  

My issue with the film, despite all of the good things it had going for it was the story that the movie world decided to tell.  I haven't read the book in years so I'm not 100% sure on everything that happened in the book, but I remember not questioning much of the story while reading.  The movie on the other hand had some of the people I went and saw it with asking why people where doing certain things.  The parts and changes they used to tell the story actually hindered it.

For some reason Stephanie Meyer's books just don't translate well onto film.  Though I do have to say that The Host was better than any of the Twilight movies.  I think the main reason for the is that the movie makers want you (the person who has already read the book) to feel all of emotion that you feel while reading.  But they keep missing the mark.  The focus on all of these deep moments and close up acting to pull you into the emotion instead of telling the story.  The are focusing on the wrong things.  If they stuck to telling the story in all of it's former goodness and didn't force you to watch people experiencing the emotions of feeling all the things it wouldn't be so awkward.  I say stick to the story and let the actions and plot line make people feel all the feels.

But the movie wasn't bad in the least.  It kinda has that 80s adventure movie feel behind it!  And I have to admit that Jake Abel was wonderful as Ian.  Ok, Max Irons was pretty to look at too, even though I'm much more of an Ian girl.  So, give the movie a shot, but just know that it's not the most glorious movie that you've ever seen.  

Rating:
    3 Unicorns = I liked it a lot but it had it's issues!

4 comments:

Jelly said...

I LOVED the book. I haven't watched the movie yet and I'm not sure if I will. I think it's hard to translate the book into a movie when most of conflicts occurred through internal dialogue--between Melanie and Wanda. Great review though!

@MelissaJoLynn_ said...

I agree. It was just ok. I think it's just hard to fit 600 PGA into 2 hrs. And I think they just focused too much on the sic fi aspect.

Anonymous said...

I've heard so many of the same complaints as you have! It seems like it was a really good movie, but apparently Melanie and Wanda's relationship wasn't sketched out as well as it should've been. It seems like all of the character development wasn't as great as it should've been.

I'm glad you still liked the movie though! I agree, Stephenie Meyer may write good books (I've only skimmed one) but from the movies you really can't tell >.<

Thanks for sharing! Great review :)

Nicole said...

How was she playing two people (more or less). I know Mel takes over her body sometimes or her actions/emotions are often conflicted- was that believable? It would take some serious acting!