In the days after Earth has been colonised by an alien race, Melanie (Ronan) is one of the few remaining humans left on the planet. She`s on the way to a rebel hideout with her almost-boyfriend Jared (Irons) and younger brother Jamie (Chandler Canterbury) when she`s ambushed, captured, and implanted with a Soul bearing the name of Wanderer. Refusing to give up without a fight, Melanie has soon convinced – or coerced – Wanderer into helping her make the dangerous journey back to her family. But with Wanderer in control of her body, can Melanie convince everyone in the hideout, including the suspicious Ian O`Shea (Jake Abel), that she`s still alive?
The Host is a tough movie to get right – after all, one of its main characters can only live in the form of a voiceover, a problem created by the novel`s basic concept. Fortunately, writer-director Niccol (Gattaca, In Time) has had some experience with figuring out tricky sci-fi puzzles for the big screen. Here, the voiceover mostly works, due in no small part to Ronan`s ability to allow internal conflict to play out beautifully on her expressive face.
The film also takes a good stab at creating the shattered environment in which Melanie and her family must fight for their humanity. Interestingly, the Souls – led most outstandingly by the icy-blonde Kruger as a determined Seeker – are not presented as monolithically antagonistic. In fact, there are elements of their society and interaction that would seem almost admirable, if they hadn`t taken over an entire world in the process. Along the way, The Host throws up some pretty interesting ideas about identity, control, trust and what it means to be human, most of which are best explored in the fascinating, tentative friendship that springs up between Wanderer – christened Wanda by Melanie`s uncle Jeb (William Hurt) – and Ian.
It`s a pity that the romantic sub-plots Meyer has built into her story come very close to undoing the promise of the rest of the film. The moments between Melanie, Jared, Wanda and Ian aren`t confusing so much as awkward and, on a couple of occasions, unintentionally funny. The film almost sinks beneath the weight of its pair of mawkish love stories – a flaw mitigated only by the fact that both Melanie and Wanda are far more appealing, independent-minded protagonists than their predecessor Bella Swan.
To Niccol`s credit, he does manage to pull most of it off by the end. Even with its share of cringeworthy moments, The Host creates a web of relationships and characters that are considerably more sympathetic and believable than their Twilight counterparts – tying everything up with an ending that packs a surprising emotional punch.
Basically: A pretty good sci-fi movie weighed down by a somewhat less successful love story.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Shawne Wang